Through the Prophet Ezekiel, the Lord said, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Eze. 36:26). All men need a new heart because there is something wrong with their old heart. Being deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9), it is the source of all evil (Mark 7:21, 22). To compound the problem, the heart is darkened (Rom. 1:21) and blind to its own condition (Eph. 4:18).

The remedy is not a make-over of the old heart but the receiving of a new heart in the new birth (John 3:1-7). The old, natural man is under the curse of sin and must die (Rom. 6:23). There is no hope for him. Nothing can change him. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh. . . (John 3:6). When one has a new heart, he is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). From that new heart arise new and pure desires, thoughts, and actions (Gal. 5:22, 23).

A new heart is given to sinners only by God Himself. No man, group of men, or decision by the sinner himself can create a new heart (John 1:13). Imparting a new heart is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8). One gives evidence he has a new heart when he repents of his sins and trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. That evidence is further confirmed by the good works he does out of the new heart (Matt. 12:35). Good fruit can only come from a good tree. When one has a new heart, he has a good start on a new year. Otherwise, the new year for him will be but a repeat of the old. We pray you will be given a new heart that you may have a happy new year.