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How’s
your heart today? No, I’m not talking about physically,
and I’m not going to ask if you’ve been
eating your veggies. What I mean is, how accessible
are you to God right now?
For
example’s sake, if you were able to hold your
spiritual heart in your hands, how would it feel? Would
you find something that is warm and soft, pliable to
the touch? Would it pulse with life? Or would you more
likely find something that resembles a cold, rigid,
heavy piece of lead? I hope and pray that the first
example is true of you this day, and that His Word will
be welcomed. Even if you might find yourself a little
more on the cold and rocky side, the power of a loving
and merciful God can change your heart.
Maybe
you’re not quite sure what I mean by a hardened
heart. Do you refuse to believe God? Can you think of
something in your life, perhaps something that you know
you shouldn’t be doing, but you refuse to give
it up or make up excuses why it’s okay? That’s
hardening your heart. Has God told you to do something
or go somewhere, and you’re pretending like you
didn’t hear what He said? That’s hardening
your heart. Maybe your life as a Christian isn’t
what you thought it would be. Are you angry at God because
you don’t like or don’t understand what
He’s doing? You’ve got granite growing.
Do you really believe in the one true God and His only
Son, Jesus? If not, that heart is sinkable if dropped
in a body of water.
God
understand our hearts. He made us! He knows the intricacies
of ourselves that we don’t even know about. And,
to our dismay at times, He knows the things that we
wish He didn’t know. This very moment, God knows
how willing you are to listen to Him. He knows if you
believe Him.
There
is no better time than today to take a health check
of our hearts. Lord, we ask you today to open up your
word to us. Speak to our hearts, soft, lumpy or solid.
Show us the areas in our lives that you want to touch
and help us to hear you and obey. Help us believe. Search
us and know our hearts, Lord. Amen.
In
Hebrews 3:7-11, a direct quote of Psalm 95:7-11, the
Bible reminds us of the sin of a hardened heart through
the story of the wanderings of the Israelites. In case
you need a brief re-cap, Moses had led the Israelites
out of slavery and out of Egypt. He was taking them
to a land that God has promised to give them called
Canaan. Along the way, the Israelites didn’t do
such a hot job remaining faithful to God, and their
consequence after many, many warnings was to wander
in the desert 40 years before they would be allowed
to enter Canaan. In Hebrews, this time of wandering
and hardening of heart toward God is used as both an
example to us of the consequence of sin and unbelief,
but more importantly a request by a loving God to be
open to hear His voice and follow Him.
Therefore,
as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear
His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your Fathers
tested me, tried me, and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said,
“They always go astray in their hearts, and they
have not known my ways.’ So I swore in my wrath,
“they shall not enter my rest.’” Hebrews
3:7-11 NKJV
Lets’
break this passage down a bit so that we can fully take
it in. It begins with “Today, if you will hear
His voice…” If you will hear it, that implies
some responsibility on our parts. Do you take time to
listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit? Is there something
in your life that would keep you from hearting him?
Will you put down your defenses? Will you muffle your
excuses? Many of us forget to slow down enough to actually
spend time with the Lord. Will you be still and simply
hear what God has to say? If you will, God desperately
wants to tell you something. But once you hear God’s
voice, how will you react to what He says? Will you
believe Him?
“Do
not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day
of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested
me, tried me, and say my works for forty years.”
This
is a lesson that we can take straight to our hearts.
Have you seen God work in your life, in the lives of
others? Remember and do not harden your heart. In Deuteronomy
4:3, Moses reminds the Israelites that, “Your
eyes have seen what the Lord did…” Rebellion
comes form unbelief, and unbelief comes when we look
at the circumstances in our lives instead of looking
to God who is in control of EVERY circumstance. We can
watch God work in our lives for years, but a circumstance
pops up that we didn’t expect and BAM! Faith flies
out of the window, and we begin to doubt that Lord’s
provision for our lives.
Moses
saw and knew very well the downward spiral of faithlessness
in the very people God delivered from Egypt. You would
think after such a huge and miraculous event in their
lives (especially the parting of the Red Sea) they wouldn’t
be quite so quick to trust themselves instead of God.
But Moses knew better, and he further warned the Israelites
in Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take heed to yourself,
and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things
your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart
all the days of your life.” Moses understood what
it was to be human and have a sinful nature. You see,
our humanity will not choose to follow God willingly.
We are not inherently good. Our nature is sin, and unless
we are diligent in obedience and relationship to God,
we will forget how He has worked in our lives. We will
begin to live for ourselves. The result is that we walk
in our flesh and we wander in our own “deserts”.
I can think of a few jaunts I’ve taken in the
Sahara.
“Therefore I was angry with that generation, and
said, “They always go astray in their heart, and
they have not know my ways.’ So I swore in my
wrath, “ They shall not enter my rest.’”
God
cannot accept sin, and sin in our lives does bring consequences.
As humans, we don’t like this concept. Whether
we like it or not, sin and consequences are very real.
For
the Israelites, their sin of a hardened heart, despite
the faithfulness of God to provide all they needed,
resulted in the delay of experiencing the promises and
blessings of God in Canaan for 40 years. How much better
it would have been to have listened to God rather than
experience the consequences of unbelief. How much better
would it be for you this very day, “…while
it is called “Today” lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews
3:13), to rid yourself of the unbelief that holds your
heart captive?
I
don’t know what it is that you struggle with,
but know that God does. God is calling you to make a
choice. Refresh your heart In His living water and soften
things up a bit. Confess the unbelief in you heart,
wherever it is…in circumstance, work or school,
finances, relationships, health or lifestyle. “Now
that we know what we have –Jesus, this great High
Priest with ready access to God – let us not let
it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest
who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been
through weakness and testing, experienced it all, all
but the sin. So let’s walk right up to Him and
get what He is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept
the help.” (Hebrews 4:15-16, The Message) You
and your everyday life is exactly what Jesus came and
died for. Choose to live it by faith.
Written
by C. Terpstra
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