The Christian and circumcision

     The first thought that goes through my mind (as a man) when I think about circumcision is how painful it must be.  Most men who are circumcised had the procedure as infants and don't even remember the incident.  The concept of circumcision is as old as the Bible and the procedure/ceremony is still common today for the Jewish people.  It's also something that bears looking at for our day and age.  Circumcision is more than removing the foreskin of the penis.  The symbolic act is to mark a people as set apart to God as outlined in the Old Testament.  That was all that was needed to tell others that you worshiped God.  But, as man found out, the act didn't ring true in the hearts of man or woman.  Yes, some parts of the world practice female circumcision for very different reasons still today.  I'll get into that another time.  The circumcised people of God weren't circumcised in their hearts.  So we come to that shift in time when circumcision was confronted by Jesus with the Jewish leaders who his said were "uncircumcised in their hearts."  The beginning of Matthew tells us that Jesus came to fulfill the law and usher in a new covenant with people having circumcised hearts.  Just what does that mean to you and I?
     I've had lots of surgeries, wounds and "owies" over the years.  Sometimes I think back on those times and winch from the memory of the pain.  Maybe you do as well.  There's a difference between having an injury or wound and the pain caused by surgery.  When it's accidental there is not only the pain of the instant but also the lingering pain until healing takes place.  I don't know many people who have not suffered in this manner.  Surgery is a totally different animal.  Either I'm unconscious or the area of the wound has injected pain killer there is no pain felt initially.  Pain comes when that wears off and reality sets in.  By then I'm on pain killers and the real pain is hidden.  I've had the chance to attend to others and aid them in their recovery from their physical and psychological pain.  There is a time to heal and that comes after the pain.  Can't say that I have ever been able to prevent other people's pain.  I have a hard enough time doing that for me much less anyone else.  Finally, there are those times when we intentional (for good or bad) cause injury to someone.  Whether it's taking your child to the dentist/doctor or doing something foolish that injures another, we have all experienced the pain we have led someone into. 
     What does all of this have to do with the Christian and circumcision?  Everything!  When Jesus came he released us from the law of circumcision of the penis.  Yes, I said that word.  He brought with his life, death and resurrection a new covenant with the circumcision of the heart.  Just what does that mean?  First, we need to understand that the outward or physical act of circumcision is done away with.  We don't need circumcision of the penis to show we belong to God.  We don't need tattoos or jewelry to represent our life in Christ.  We don't need churches or church attendance to convince others we have given our lives to Christ.  There are no secret ceremonies, prayers, or other idiocyrncies that will show how much you love Jesus.  Like circumcision of the body, these things mean nothing because God searches the heart and not the outward.  You can act, talk, and claim all that is Christian but if you don't know Jesus it's all worthless.  Through the work of Christ you and I are called to die to self and to let Christ live through us.  This is the circumcision of the heart.  We die so that it's no longer our heart that beats but Christ's heart that beats within us.  The truth is if we retain our old heart Jesus' heart cannot beat within us.  There is ample examples of how the Christian should think, say and do in their new life that we don't need to address them.  Unless of course we don't have a circumcised heart.  Being doers of the Word (Jesus) means not being doers of anything else.  Don't just hear the Word, let Him live through you.  Get circumcised.  Remember, it's always your choice.