Changing your Stony Heart

Prov 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake you; tie them around your neck; write them upon the tablet of your heart;

Now that we have seen what it means to tie His Commandments around your neck, we will look into what it means to write His Commandments on the tablets of your heart?

Write is the word "katab" that means; to grave / engrave, to write, inscribe, record, describe.

It is first used in Scripture in Exo 17:14 where Moses had to write all the words YHVH spoke to him so that he will be able to teach the people. This word is also used later in Exo 31:18 to explain how YHVH engraved the Ten Commandments into stone tablets on Mount Sinai.

Two things stand out; the heart is compared to stone tablets and the Words of YHVH are written in stone, making it permanent and unchangeable. We as sinful humans have stone cold stubborn hearts that makes us un-teachable and our hearts, hard to change. One thing that we as humans don't like is change because it makes us walk in the unknown. None of us like constant change and we rater stay in our comfort zones, knowing what to expect next. YHVH on the other hand wants us to constantly change so that we can grow spiritually and change into His likeness. If you don't change constantly, then you are dead spiritually.

Have you ever written down the Ten Commandments, imagine writing it with a chisel on stone that will keep you busy for a while? In the same way we can compare the effort it is to write the Commandments on our stony hearts; it takes time and effort. This is what YHVH is doing with us; He is busy writing His Commandments on our hearts through His Spirit, allowing constant change and challenges in our lives to make us humble and receptive, in order to "engrave" a certain Commandment on your heart, within a certain situation. Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians that YHVH will not only allow the temptation in your life, but will also give the outcome.

1Cor 10:13  No temptation has taken you but what is common to man; but YHVH is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but with the temptation also will make a way to escape, so that you may be able to bear it.  

Have you ever thought of why YHVH allows temptation in your life? Is He mean and want to see you suffer? No, He is wise and wants to see you change. YHVH changes you from the inside out; He will allow situations in your life to get to your heart so that He can change it by writing or imbedding that Commandment that is applicable in that situation in your heart. Once that is done your character will change and you have build character and grown spiritually. It is like writing a practical test after you have received the theory to see if you fully understand the work. Every test and trail you go through will chisel out another letter of the Commandments in your stony heart.

Jacob wrestled with YHVH through the night, thinking it was his enemy (Esau). In the same way we see that YHVH is in every situation and at first, He looks like the enemy, but when day breaks (revelation comes), we see that it was YHVH that were wrestling with us in order to touch our lives (thigh) and change our walk. Gen 32:24-30. YHVH has to sometimes wrestle with us in order to change us and to permanently engrave the Commandments on our hearts.

Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says YHVH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.

Writing the Commandments on our hearts is part of YHVH's Covenant agreement with His people and those who follow Him will go through the process of preparation (humiliation / to make humble) in order to receive His Word through is Spirit within situations. You cannot write His Commandments on your heart, the only thing you can do is to be humble, teachable and to recognize Him in every situation. We do this through initially allowing His Spirit to indwell us through the process of Rebirth, Baptism and lying up of hands. Then we allow Him to change us by acknowledging Him in every situation and trial, so that He can make a permanent change to our hearts and our character. Your job is to be sensitive for that still small voice inside of you during the day and to read and study His Word so that His Spirit can explain and reveal it to you in a practical way. You cannot do it yourself, it is only through the power of His Holy Spirit that He can teach and change within life's wrestling matches, so that His Word and Spirit can make permanent changes to your heart and in your life.