Ezekiel 36:23-28 / Matthew 22:1-14
We like to have new things because they work efficiently and productively and it is a good feeling to be the first owner.
But new things does not necessary mean that we will change our habits or our ways of doing things. We may get a new car but we will still be driving it with our old habits.
Similarly with new environments or new surroundings. We may move into a new house or a new office but the way we lay out the furnishing would be quite similar with our former environment or surroundings.
In the 1st reading, God wants to give His people a new heart and a new spirit. And that means that He will cleanse them of all their defilement and all their idols.
He will pour clean water over them in order to cleanse them.
This seems and sounds good. But we all know that in order to cleanse something that is deeply stained, then it would involve a lot of scrubbing, and if it is done on the flesh then it would be painful.
But the hand that hurts is also the hand that heals (Job 5:18). The cleansing process can be a painful process but it will result in a new heart and a new spirit.
It is with a new heart and a new spirit that we will be able to respond to the Lord's invitation to His banquet of love.
It is with a new heart and new spirit that we will truly rejoice that we are God's people and that He alone is our Lord and God. And there is nothing more we shall ever want.