I’m going to apologize in advance for today’s article. I recognize that most people are either reading this as part of their 5AM devotional studies (as part of my mailing list) or are reading after the fact as a devotional. Maybe you stumbled across it online.
No matter how you found this article, I know that reading an in-depth study of circumcision is probably not what you were hoping for at this juncture in your life. But if you are, here’s an article from the Mayo Clinic that explains the how and why of circumcision.
What you probably picked up from that article and/or already know about this process is that circumcision involves cutting off the flesh surrounding the penis known as the foreskin. It’s primarily done today for health reasons, although many cultures, including Judaism, observe it as a religious ritual.
God commanded Abraham and his descendants to do it back in Genesis 17:9-14. It was declared not necessary under the New Covenant (Acts 15:1-6; Galatians 5:1-6), so it’s not required of Christians. That matter has been settled.
Paul does allude to it in Romans 2:25-29, however. There, he mentions that even under the Old Covenant, circumcision was supposed to be done “of the heart” and not necessarily only of the flesh.
He doesn’t come up with this concept out of thin air. Moses says the exact same thing in Deuteronomy 10:16: “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.”
It’s clear that circumcision was required to be a part of the Old Covenant, but it’s also clear that circumcision of the flesh wasn’t the only thing God had in mind. You needed to have your heart circumcised also. Otherwise, it was just simple mutilation (Philippians 3:2).
But what does it mean to circumcise your heart?
To answer that, you have to think back to the physical process. If physical circumcision removes that outer layer of flesh, then spiritual circumcision involves removing a barrier, too.
What barrier could there possibly be? The one that keeps you from hearing and applying God’s teaching. The very one that made Israel stubborn in response to God’s teachings.
Many things are called “uncircumcised” throughout Scripture, even if newer translations have reworded some of these.
Moses cries out in Exodus 6:12 that he can’t speak to Pharaoh because he has “uncircumcised lips.” Or, as the NASB puts it, he is “unskilled in speech.” What he means is that he has some kind of physical impediment (in his own mind at least) to fully deliver the message in a way that it needs to be delivered.
Other passages have similar meanings. Jeremiah 6:10 says that people’s ears are “uncircumcised,” rendering them unable to hear. Leviticus 19:23 claims fruit trees are to be seen as “uncircumcised” before their third year.
What does that mean for us?
If you’re anything like me, it means that you probably have some kind of holdup in fully giving your heart and your life and your actions over to God. There is something in your heart acting as a barrier between you and the Word.
To “circumcise the heart” means to remove that spiritual barrier, in the same way that physical circumcision removed a physical barrier.
We all have things like this in our lives that need to be removed. Think carefully. What’s yours?