Hard-heartedness

Hard-Heartedness

MY QUESTION for GOD

What are the signs of a hard heart?

A MOMENT with GOD

Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.

Exodus 7:13

The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, “All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” His father said to him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!”

Luke 15:28-32

“Oh no, sir!” [Hannah] replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord.”

1 Samuel 1:15

Pharaoh had a hard, stubborn heart. No matter how much he heard about God or how many miracles he saw, he refused to believe. The older brother of the prodigal son also struggled with a hard heart; he was more eager to punish than forgive. Hannah, however, continued to pray to God even when it seemed God was not answering. As you evaluate the condition of your heart, you must ask yourself, is it becoming more hard and stubborn? Or is it open and pliable, reaching out to God no matter what your circumstances are? If you find it hard to forgive others or if you struggle to see God in your daily life, then your heart may be hardening. If you let it continue, you cut yourself off from God, your only lifeline and the only One who can really give you purpose and direction. A hard heart rejects the one thing that can save it—God’s love. A tender heart seeks God’s help and notices his perfectly timed responses.

DIVINE PROMISE

I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART, AND I WILL PUT A NEW SPIRIT IN YOU. I WILL TAKE OUT YOUR STONY, STUBBORN HEART AND GIVE YOU A TENDER, RESPONSIVE HEART.   Ezekiel 36:26