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In Psalm 95 (vs 7) David declares:
Today, if you will hear His voice: "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As [in] the day of trial in the wilderness,
It is repeated in Hebrews 4:7
He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS."
Implied in these verses (to my way of thinking) is the warning that if you harden your hearts a smidgen today, by not listening to his voice, then tomorrow, you will be more inclined to ignore that still small voice yet again….until your heart is so calloused, it becomes almost inevitable that you will choose to be disobedient, rebellious and stray yet farther from the ways of God.
CS Lewis , in his book Mere Christianity puts it this way:
People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, "If you keep a lot of rules, I'll reward you, and if you don't, I'll do the other thing." I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.
The more we ignore him, the more estranged we become. Now...being a universalist, I know that God can...and will....perform the spiritual equivalent of hitting us over the head with a 2 x4 hard enough to get our attention and stop the momentum of the downward spiral. I am living this right now with one of my children. Right now it is one step forward and two steps back....but I have hope that he is still speaking to her heart and still calling her to be his daughter...the daughter she is destined to be sooner or later. I am encouraged by the way the Message translates the verse in Hebrews:
God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don't turn a deaf ear . . .
Can't you hear him calling, Beth?
2 comments:
Cindi, I was going to E-mail you but have lost your address. I have been touched by what you have written of Beth on Heresy and your blog.
Over the last few years God has placed a great in love in my heart for the young ones. Normally I have at least one name pasted to the side of my computer to pray for every day but it is empty except for a new stickie with Beth's name on it.
I have had some names there for as long as a year but without exception have seen God's merciful healing come and peace given.
I may be a little tried by the direction you are going Theologically but that holds no place when it come to one such as Beth that God has put on my heart.
If you ever get a chance there is Laren that frequents TM and we prayed for his 16year old Jade for months and God reached out and miraculously touched this little girl in a jail cell. Last I heard Jade is in love with Lord, happy, productive and about to get married to a boyfriend that is a believer.
If you ever run into Laren I am sure he could give you a word of encouragement if you asked.
Please don't publish this as but I will give you my E-mail if you ever feel led to let me know of a pressing need or even a praise report concerning Beth. I won't bug you on this end but I will pray as it is His will.
Be encouraged as my girl was hellion in her teens with a DUI at sixteen, drugs, alcohol up the ying yang and all that goes with it. Today she is 24, a happy and most lovely young woman preparing to enter Med School.
Jack
jahennes@onewest.net
Don't harden my heart??? How can I not when all your religion has to offer is guilt and fear.
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