For His Name’s Sake

March 16, 2023

Lent 2023

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The Israelites were exiled to the nations for their disobedience and idolatry. They were exiled but not forsaken. The Sovereign LORD sends a message through Ezekiel that the exile will end and they will be returned home. But He is clear about a few things. It is not for the sake of the Israelites that He will act but for the sake of His Holy name. The Israelites had profaned His name and were profaning His name. He did not wait for them to get their act together but He would cleanse them and would replace their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. They would once again be His people. What a promise!

This passage sunk into my heart and I knew it was for me. When I was young, I knew about God and Jesus, but something was missing. In my early teens I felt I had “outgrown” Jesus. I had diminished His name. I was lost. He knew where I was, just like God knew where the Israelites were. He pursued me until I found Him. For His name’s sake, He revealed that the “what” I was looking for was a Who—the very Jesus I had diminished. He replaced my heart of stone with a heart of flesh. His Spirit showed me who Jesus was and why I had not outgrown him.

He continues to reveal Himself as I discover more facets of His nature. For His name’s sake, “He demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Paul writes in Romans 12, that we should not be conformed to the pattern of this world. The Israelites were conforming to the patterns of their world in exile, thus profaning His name. Paul continues to say that we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind, to have our hearts and minds changed by the work of the Holy Spirit. God would do that with the Israelites when He returned them, by cleansing them and giving them a heart of flesh. The Spirit does the same for us as He cleanses us and renews our minds by the work of the Holy Spirit.

For Reflection: