I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you... Ezekiel 36:26-27a

This past Christmas, Debbie and I wanted to give one of our sons a new bike.  Through an unfortunate series of circumstances, his previous one was rendered completely unusable and had become an eyesore in our garage for months.  So before shopping for a good deal, our first step was to get rid of the old bike to make room for a new one.  And in the process, we ended up offloading a few other bikes that we were no longer in need of at the same time!  That little burst of Winter cleaning reminds me of a simple, but significant principle we find in Ezekiel 36:  receiving the new things God wants to give us often goes hand-in-hand with letting go of the old things we've been hanging on to.  We're five weeks into 2026, and it may not feel like a "new" year anymore.  But if we're still looking for God to do new things in our lives, maybe we should let God lead us in letting go of old things in our lives too.

LETTING GO IN THE UPPER ROOM

And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”  Acts 1:24-25, NKJV

There's an old-new exchange that takes place in the upper room that revolves around more than just a position among the Twelve.  It wasn't just about filling a position, it was about letting God search their hearts.  The prayer of Acts 1:24-25 points us to the reality that the early believers were opening their hearts to the God who knew them deeply.  They surrendered to the God whose perception was sharpest and whose will was best.  Heart work was needed, and heart work is what they allowed God to do not only to fill a vacant position but in order to be filled with the Spirit.

After Christ’s ascension, the disciples were gathered together in one place to make humble supplication to God.  And after ten days of heart searching and self-examination, the way was prepared for the Holy Spirit to enter the cleansed, consecrated soul temples (Ellen White, Evangelism, 698).

In this same upper room just a few weeks before, the disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest, even vying for the designation of sitting at the right and left hand of Jesus in His kingdom of glory.  But now instead of grasping for selfish ambition, they let God search their hearts.  They allowed God's Word to illuminate their past experiences and yielded to God's will to direct their future decisions.  They were willing to let go of their prideful hearts of stone and instead receive humble hearts of flesh.  And just like God promised in Ezekiel, this old-new heart exchange paved the way for the infilling of the Holy Spirit:  "I will put My Spirit within you..." (Ezek. 36:27a).  

In all our praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, let's not neglect God's preparatory promise to remove whatever might stand in the way of receiving His Spirit.

Like the disciples of Acts 1, let's be willing to walk this road of letting go -- letting go of selfish ambition, control, and claims to know what's best or what's in others' hearts.

LETTING GO AT THE ROOT LEVEL

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  Acts 2:1, NKJV

The willingness to let go of pride and supremacy in Acts 1 allowed the early church to experience oneness and unity in Acts 2.  It was an answer to Jesus' prayer in John 17:20-23, and I believe it's a prayer God wants to answer in our day as well.  The reality is that relationships of oneness don't happen on their own.  They're a miracle of God's grace.  And just like God gives a new heart when we let Him remove the old,

God can give new relationships of wholeness when we let Him remove old roots of bitterness.  

Listen to Paul's counsel about pursuing peace in our relationships:

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.  Hebrews 12:14-15, NKJV

Apparently, the pursuit of peace and relational wholeness with others involves a dynamic of "looking carefully," digging diligently at the roots of our lives.  Carefulness is needed when we're looking at the root level -- where things are both sensitive and also not apparent on the surface.  Paul knows that in order for relationships to really be characterized by God's peace, it's going to require more than just the appearance of friendliness or a facade of politeness. If we don't look carefully below the surface, roots of bitterness can produce shoots of anger, criticism, gossip, and all sorts of toxicity that undermine the unity that Jesus prays will give the world a reason to believe in Him.  If we want a new experience of relational wholeness that paves the way for the outpouring of God's Spirit and the fulfillment of the great commission, then let's be willing to let go at the root level -- experiences of hurt, disappointment, or neglect that have closed our hearts to forgiveness for others or acceptance of others.  Those old things will only crowd out the possibility of the new things God has for us.

God longs to give us a new heart and new relationships.  The question is:  will we let Him remove the old so we can fully receive the new?  Letting God search our hearts and dig at our roots may not be a exciting experience, but it sure is a healing one.  And I believe it's a necessary healing that makes us ready to receive God's Spirit and partner with Him in helping the world believe that Jesus is the Christ (cf. Jn. 17:21).

🙏🏼 PRAYER

Lord, I give You permission to do the heart work You know I need.  Redeem me from the pride and self-reliance that hardens my heart from being fully surrendered to You.  Heal me of the bitterness and unforgiveness that keeps me from the kind of relationships of peace You've died to make possible.  Thanks in advance for leading me gently by Your Spirit on this journey, and for readying my heart to receive the full measure of Your Spirit as a result.