I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

A Heart of Stone, or a Heart of Flesh--May 20, 2015


We are only human, Lord Jesus, remind us of that.
By the power of your indestructible life,
reveal to us the Father,
that he may put your Spirit within us
and replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh--
with a heart to follow you and to obey your commandments.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 99; 147:1-11; 9; 118
Ezek. 11:14-25
Heb. 7:1-17
Luke 10:17-24

Selected Verses
Ps. 9:20
Put them in fear, O LORD;
          let the nations know that they are only human. Selah

Ezek. 11:19-20
"…I will give [the exiles returning to Israel] one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.  …"  [The LORD to Ezekiel]

Heb. 7:16
…one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life. 

Luke 10:22
"…All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”  [Jesus to his disciples]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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