"a Change Of Heart"

In the unit where I worked someone had to unlock doors for the resident teenagers to get nearly everywhere.

Those young people were in such a restricted environment because they’d proven to be largely unable to handle freedom.

So, workers tried everything to convince them to use their freedom wisely.

We imposed stiff punishments for wrong behavior and gave rewards for good behavior.

Yet I never saw any of those kids really change because of punishments and rewards.

They sometimes changed their ways to avoid punishment and gain rewards.

But they never really wanted to be good people—unless God changed their hearts.”

In verse 34 of Jeremiah Chapter 31 God says: “No longer will a person teach their neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest…”

What does He mean by this?

It’s about a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, is it not?

It is intimate, it is real, it is written on our hearts and minds, and it comes through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Before Jesus was crucified He told His disciples it was good that He was going away.

Because His Father would send the Holy Spirit to be their Counselor, their guide and all people would have the opportunity to know God personally.

That got its big kick-off on Pentecost when the formerly clueless disciples, started to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Christ and explain what this meant.

And just like any relationship, it took time to develop.

It took time for them to understand God’s ways.

For instance, at first, the disciples thought that Jesus had only died for the Jewish people and that they still had to follow the Old Testament dietary restrictions.

But slowly as they followed the leading of the Holy Spirit they came to find that non-Jews were getting saved as well.

And then Peter had a vision where God told him that all food is clean to eat.

Paul tells us: “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”

Having the law of love engraved in our hearts is the ultimate freedom.

As a matter of fact, as many can testify, having the love of God written in one’s heart is the essence of freedom.

It’s the freedom to act spontaneously, knowing that our actions will reflect what is in our heart.

It is the freedom to be who we truly are, and to give one’s life in such a way that our lives will be good news to the needy, the lonely, the anxious and the seeking.

In Acts Chapter 17 when the Apostle Paul arrived in Athens he noticed all kinds of idols and a shrine with the words written: “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”?

So Paul spoke to the people of Athens and proclaimed, “I see that in every way you are very religious…now what you worship I am going to proclaim to you.”

How many of our neighbors, friends, the children in our schools, the people we work believe in a god but it is an “UNKNOWN GOD”?

They say that there are no atheists in foxholes and I think that’s right.

God is not some far off and indifferent Being.

He is with us all—all the time, through the power of the Holy Spirit.