The foreskin of your heart

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” - Jeremiah 4v4

This hardly seems at first glance like an appropriate topic for a devotional thought, but God uses it and it is the perfect illustration of a surgery that many Christians need to submit to. In the Old Testament God instituted circumcision for physical cleanliness, but more importantly as a sign of spiritual cleanliness for Israel. All Jewish boys were circumcised physically as a matter of course, but many had never experienced spiritual circumcision where the fleshliness of their heart was cut away. Here Isaiah instructed them of that needed aspect.
As always there is a principle here for today. God wants all fleshliness removed form our hearts as well. We can perform all of the religious rituals we want, but if we do not deal with the fleshly desires of the heart we will battle our whole lives. Lets follow His advice and circumcise the fleshly desires of our hearts!