3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.

 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
circumcise your hearts,
you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.

When I read that passage the phrase “circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts“, really jumped out at me.  Now I know we men don’t like to think about circumcision and I’m really glad it’s done at or near birth.  Don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to go through that event as an adult – my eyes squint and my jaw clinches.

Then again, GOD is using circumcision at a metaphor for his command for us to set ourselves apart. . .to cut away the things in our lives that keep us from being holy and readily available to God.  Things like pride, self-centeredness, unfaithfulness to God, our wives, and our families, eye-wandering when a lady walks by, surfing the net hoping to “accidentally” stumble upon a web site with some short-lived eye candy or intentionally looking at pornography, whatever it is that is keeping you from being available and set aside for GOD’s purposes needs to be circumcised – cut away with and discarded.

Men, we need to consecrate ourselves for GOD and His purposes.  And every day we put our feet on the floor we need to be cleansed.  So how do you circumcise your life and your heart?  How do you consecrate yourself for GOD’s purposes?

We begin with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s through his shed blood on the cross that we are made holy and can have a personal relationship with GOD (Heb 9:21-23;  Col 1:22).  And, because we are human and we’re guys, we mess up.  So now we confess our wrongs to GOD.  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  Then we repent – turn away from our sin and the stuff we are doing and turn to GOD (Acts 3:19).  We are to turn toward His principles and desires for our lives.  This means we will have to identify those things in our lives that cause us to sin and stop doing them and start doing those things He desires of us:  spending time with Him, talking with Him, being obedient to Him, taking risks for Him, faithfully loving our wives and children, and much more.
Next, I believe we must pursue the things of GOD – the heart of GOD, His righteousness, His holiness, His love, His mercy, His grace, His desires – so that they become a part – an integral part – of who we are as men.

This is where I am – learning about being consecrated to and for GOD and His purposes.  I am also learning that to be the man GOD designed and desires me to be I must circumcise those things in my life that prevent me from being readily available to and for Him.  I’m working through the identification process – identifying those things that make me unholy, those things that I need to confess and repent of before the LORD.

What about you?  Ready to become the man GOD designed and desires you to be?  Commit to circumcising your life and your heart for Him.
Mike