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. – Ezekiel 36:26

Ever since I went to see the Pilgrim’s Progress play, I’ve been enthralled with John Bunyan.  I just keep thinking of him writing this story in prison in the 1600’s.  All he had to do was agree to stop preaching to his group of people who so eagerly came to hear the gospel.  He refused . . . and it cost him 12 years in prison.  Without those 12 years in prison, we would not have The Pilgrim’s Progress.  400 years later, that book has been used more than a few times to help keep me on the narrow path that leads to life. 

I stumbled across a part of John Bunyan’s story that I didn’t know.  He self-professed to be a bad kid.  He was very aware that his heart gravitated towards evil.  Yet, if someone ever mentioned “hell”, it messed with him.  He knew enough that he didn’t want to go there.  Eventually, he would try to earn heaven by becoming moral.  He stopped cussing and stopped other behaviors that he knew were wrong in his heart.  This bothered him even more because he felt like he simply “put a new coat of paint on an old house.”  He knew what he was underneath the surface, and it tormented him.

One day, he stumbled across some ladies talking of Christ.  They spoke with such joy.  Hearing this conversation, he was led to their pastor who showed him how to receive the new heart that the verse in Ezekiel talks about.  He never looked back after that. 

Just the other day, I was talking to a friend about the Lord.  Our hearts just burned while we spoke of Him.  I thought of just how much more I’d like to get with people who simply loved to talk about God and what He is doing in their lives.  It is one thing to hear a preacher preach about God, but it is entirely another to hear others speak of how their lives revolve around Him.

Lord, thank you for those who have walked the path before me.  I’m so thankful that we can read about them and that it motivates our hearts to walk as they did.  Help me stay on the narrow path that leads to life.  I know how quickly I could be led astray.  May You bless me indeed.  Increase the reach of my influence.  May Your hand be with me as You keep evil from me.  There is no one like You, Lord.  Amen.