This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.
Genesis 17:8
Therefore, circumcise your hearts and be no longer stiff-necked Deuteronomy 10:16
When God asked Abraham to become circumcised, what was he asking for? I believe the context there is absolutely important. What happened in chapter 16, immediately before this in literary terms, although thirteen years earlier in time? Ishmael had happened. Yes, it might have been too late for Sarah to reproduce herself, but, as that incident showed, it was certainly not too late for Abraham. He could still do it!
So what is Yahweh asking for? He is not asking for a piece of male flesh. Neither is he asking that Abraham accommodate himself to many of the Canaanite peoples among whom he was living, most of whom practiced circumcision. He is asking for Abraham’s fertility, for his future, for his life.
Moses understood that perfectly when he called the people to circumcise their hearts. The problem with the world is not male genitalia. The problem with the world is the human heart, the core of our life, our self. What’s wrong with our heart, the core of our life, our self? Moses understood it perfectly, after forty years with that bunch of humans. “Be no longer stiff-necked.” That is picture of a calf that refuses to be led. It digs in all four hooves, and makes its neck like a bar of iron. “NO! I WON’T GO!” That’s the problem. You can’t have my heart, God. I’ll give you money; I’ll give you time; but you can’t have me, my future, my life. I won’t let you have control.
Oh, but why not! The place he wants to lead us to is good! Yes, we’ll have to take our hands off the steering wheel, and sometimes we’ll wonder if this is really the right way, but “saint, apostles, prophets, martyrs” all answer “Yes, he never fails. Oh, let his put his mark, his brand, on your heart, and find peace.
Called To Be Transformed 