The Circumcised Heart
The Circumcised Heart
Recently I began to wonder what the term, “Circumcised Heart” really means. My curiosity began when I was talking to a friend that is going to get another tattoo. We were discussing the scripture in Leviticus 19:28 which says: “ ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.” My friend told me, “That passage of scripture doesn’t really apply to us today because it also has admonitions to wear your hair a certain way and other rules.” I didn’t argue with her but this idea of throwing out a scripture did not seem right to me. Since I know that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), I decided to study this a little bit and during that quest I came across a scripture which talked about how we should “Circumcise our hearts”. In fact, the Leviticus passage that talks about tattoos is really talking about the outward signs of someone that is “set apart” unto the Lord. Circumcision in the Old Testament was a primary demarcation of an Israelite in his “set-apart-unto-God state”.
What I found out is that a Circumcised Heart is one in which God Himself helps us to “Love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul.” (Deuteronomy 30:6) This concept carries over for New Testament believers because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Colossians 2:11-14 says, “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
The Ryrie Commentary says that under the old covenant (Old Testament), the ceremonies and ordinances were primarily physical and the spiritual aspects were implied. Under the New Covenant (redemption through what Jesus Christ did for us), the ceremonies and ordinances are primarily spiritual and the physical aspects are implied. Romans 2:27-29 explains that a person can keep the Jewish laws but be uncircumcised (not Jewish) and there can be those that are circumcised but do not keep the law. The passage says, “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter and his praise is not from men, but from God.” Since God looks at our heart and judges our motivation behind the rules we keep, He knows whether we are really doing things because we have “set-apart” our hearts to Him or we are merely following rules. I can be very “religious” in my keeping the rules of the Bible but I may not really love the Lord my God with all my heart or soul or might. But is the converse even possible?
Can I love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul and all my might but not keep His rules or have outward signs of being “set-apart” unto Him? I don’t really think so. If I really love the Lord and want what He wants – not out of fear or a sense to manipulate Him, but rather because I want to delight Him, I will keep His commandments. I will WANT to keep them. This is the fruit of having the Holy Spirit within me. He grows my love into obedient love.
As you know, I have looked at my life as a “Joy Ride” for about 6 years now. So if I have a circumcised heart, I will stop asking if “we are there yet” every 5 minutes. I will be happy to go on the ride no matter where it takes me. I will be able to lay back in a lifeboat in a sea of trials and rest in the fact that the Lord will give me a little tin can of rainwater for my needs. And this level of trust, will grow my love, and when my love grows, I will WANT to look how God wants me to look. I will WANT to act in ways that glorify God. I will allow HIM to cut away all the excess “stuff” in my life so that my heart is just pure love for Him alone. I guess it could be said, that the circumcised heart is noticeable not so much for what is in my life…as it is for what isn’t there which once was.
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Vicki Feinn was raised in a Christian home and accepted Jesus as her savior at the age of five. At the age of eleven she gave herself to the Lord to be used in any way He wanted to use her. 
