A Perfect Heart

A few weeks ago, a friend introduced me to the Facebook Group "A World of Hearts".  Someone came up with the idea of decorating windows with hearts to show "we are all in this [COVID-19 crisis] together".  The group was created to share pictures from all over the country.  The group has expanded past pictures of windows to include hearts spotted in nature, and even a few pets with heart shaped spots have been featured.  If your world feels a little blue, do yourself a favor and search for this group.  A few minutes of scrolling should cheer you up!

One of the posts I especially enjoyed was by a woman who shared a picture of the "rock garden" in her yard.  Over the years, she had collected heart shaped rocks, and now has them gathered together in one spot.  Ever since I was a little girl, rocks have held a fascination in my world, so I went on a mission to start a "heart rock garden" of my own.

After several walks down gravel roads, I found myself with a small tray full of rocks.  Some were easily identifiable as "heart shaped", while others required a bit of imagination to classify them in the category.  In my mind I began pondering where I might place my mini "heart rock garden" in the yard.

This week, on one of my walks, I opted to stay on the main walking path in town, which stretches along what we call the "farm to market" road.  It starts just inside the north entrance to town, and continues to the south edge before coming to an end.  Plans to continue the path around the edge of town were tabled, but hopefully one day will be picked up again!

As I paused for a moment at the end of the trail, I heard this little voice telling me to look down.  "There's a nice heart shaped rock just waiting to be picked up!" was the whisper in my head.  Looking down, I saw nothing resembling the shape of a heart immediately in front of me.  A glance to the right, however, and there it was. . .a rock in the shape of a perfect heart!  It fit nicely in the palm of my hand as I headed back home.

Later, as I was studying the rock, I was reminded of a passage in the Bible about "hearts made of stone".  Ezekiel was prophesying over the nation of Israel, telling them God would gather them from all the countries where they had been scattered.  He told them they would be cleansed from all impurities and idols.  I especially like verses 26-28 in Ezekiel 36, which is the voice of God talking to His people:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.  I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.  You will live in the land I gave your forefathers;  you will be My people, and I will be your God."

Looking again at my rock, I realized it was a perfect example of what our hearts should NOT be.  God doesn't want us to have hardened hearts, but ones that are soft and moldable.  Perhaps this message given to the Israelites many years ago could also be a message for us today.  Could it be God has given us these times of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic to capture our attention and change the state of our hearts?

Take some time to evaluate your own heart.  God is the only one who can shape and mold it into a "perfect heart" filled with love.  As the verses in Ezekiel say, it requires God's Spirit within us to point us in the direction of following God's ways, and the life of Jesus is the perfect example to follow.  God sees each of our hearts, and stands ready to mold and shape them.  Are you ready to let Him?  Sacrifice a portion of your free time to spending time in His Word, and let the process begin!