A New Heart
I will give them a new heart to know me, that I am the Lord.
Jeremiah 24:7
Ezekiel prophesied, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). A new heart and a new spirit are clearly gifts from God. Jeremiah prophesied, “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart” (Jeremiah 24:7). This is a heart to know and experience God.
Contrary to popular thinking, emotion is not the dominant function of the heart. H. Wheeler Robinson, an Oxford academic, analyzed the functions of the heart in his book The Christian Doctrine of Man. Robinson counted 822 uses of the word “heart” in Scripture when used in reference to human personality. According to his categorization, 204 of the 822 uses refer to our intellect, 195 to our will, and 166 to our emotions. It is better to think of our heart as the center of self and the seat of reflection rather than just the seat of our emotions.
The essential business of the heart is stated in Proverbs 15:14: “The discerning heart seeks knowledge.” The word for “heart” occurs most frequently in the portions of Bible known as the wisdom literature (for example, 99 times in Proverbs and 42 times in Ecclesiastes) as well as the highly instructional book of Deuteronomy (51 times). These portions of Scripture instruct us in the way of God’s wisdom, which we are to know and understand with our hearts. Thus, the goal of life is to gain a heart of wisdom. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
The truth of God’s Word must penetrate our hearts in order for it to direct our ways and transform our lives. It is possible to intellectually know the truth and yet not allow it to have an impact on how we feel or what we do. Only in the heart do the mind, emotion, and will come together in holistic unity. When we allow the truth to penetrate our hearts, it immediately stirs the emotions, which drives the will. The biblical idea of knowing God and knowing the truth that will set us free involves our emotions and our will, not just our intellect. To grow and live righteous lives, we must experience God, not just have an intellectual knowledge of His attributes.
Many believers are not experiencing God’s presence or the liberating benefits of knowing Him because they have never gotten beyond an intellectual understanding of who He is. The greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). God is trying to enlarge our hearts, not just our minds. The Truth has to be incarnated and become a living Word within us, and that is possible because the indwelling Jesus is the Truth and the Word.
a few questions to ponder:
What does it mean to have a new heart that knows and experiences God?
According to God’s Word, what is the heart?
The goal of life is to attain a heart of wisdom. How is that different from a head full of knowledge?
What evidence have you sensed in your own life that confirms the truth that you have a new heart?
How have you gone beyond simple “head” knowledge of Christ and allowed Him to enlarge your heart?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.