Ezekiel 36:26 English Standard Version (ESV) And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Our closing comment yesterday was: “When we gave our hearts to Christ that became the center of right choices.” Giving our hearts to Christ and having the indwelling Spirit creates a new heart that is no longer hardened. This new heart is one that loves as God loves. That is how it can become the seat of right choices.

Hebrews 3:8-9 English Standard Version (ESV) do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,     on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.

The wilderness journey was one where they followed God by cloud during the day and fire by night. They did not have a changed heart. All their choices were mental and influenced by the flesh. They saw what God did for forty years and yet all the generations that entered into the promised land were born in the wilderness, the rest died there.

We were lucky enough to be born after the work of the cross of Christ and have the opportunity to believe and receive according to God’s promises. One promise is that Christ would rule and reign in the hearts of those who love Him.

Colossians 3:15 English Standard Version (ESV) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

We are distracted by things in the world and in so doing the peace of Christ takes second place in our minds. Distractions are not sin unless they cause us to act in a manner that interferes with His ruling in our hearts. This is why it is important to renew our minds to learn what Christ is doing in our hearts that now belong to Him.

I can confess what distracts me but each of us has to decide for ourselves what it is that pulls our focus away from Christ and onto things of the world.

For me it is world events, politics, economy, advertising, and the actions of the inconsiderate.

We are not to be ignorant of all these things but we are not to be controlled by them.