Devotional: Soft hearts

By Ian

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”

Hebrews 3:12-15

Message:

Quite a challenging scripture, encouraging us to ensure our hearts are not hardened, but instead are faith-filled. 

This passage is referring to the Exodus, where the Israelites were led through the red sea into the desert. The problem was, that despite having seen God lead them from slavery, part a sea, destroy the Egyptians, and provide food and water they were actually a little short on faith. 

And it is a constant theme. Every time a problem comes up, their first thought is ‘Why has God allowed this? Does he just want us to die?’

This scripture reminds us that we have an opportunity to respond in faith, to trust that God knows what he his doing. God had already planned the manna and quail, God had planned a suitable, safe route for the Israelites, and he was leading them from slavery into freedom.  Yet there is this consistent underlying problem: people don’t trust him.

So, what about us? Have we forgotten the good things God has done? Are you in the middle of a challenge and are wondering why God has done this? 

It was this attitude that caused the Israelites to have hard hearts and eventually caused them to miss out on the promised land. 

So what do we do? Helpfully, Hebrews 3 tells us in verses 12-14:

1)  Check your hearts. Is your heart soft towards God? Do you know who he is and what he is like, and who you are in him? Are you acting out of faith or unbelief?

2)  Encourage one another. How are you encouraging your spouse, children and other Christians you are walking with? You might need some encouragement also, as we encourage others, we may find we receive a lot more!

3)  Watch out for the deceitfulness of sin. The Israelites thought going back to what they had would have been better. They forgot they were set free. We are set free and what God is leading us to is better! Don’t be tempted to give up or go back.

4)  Hold On. This life is only temporary, stand firm, endure, keep going.

5)  Be confident in God. The Israelites had lost their confidence, we can see that God is faithful, he is good. We can be confident in him. 

Prayer pointer:

Pray this week that the Holy Spirit will soften our hearts and empower us to respond in faith when the challenges of life crop up. Acknowledge before him if you find this difficult to do and surrender to his transformational work.