RPG Adults
THE DANGER OF THE HARDNESS OF HEART
SATURDAY, JULY 20
Hebrews 3:7-19
Psalm 95:1-11
“For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.”
THE DANGER OF THE HARDNESS OF HEART
The hardness of heart and unbelief lead to eternal damnation. The Word of God speaks and His works are manifested every day. The Holy Spirit uses this to build one’s faith. However, after the example of Israel in the wilderness, the hardness of man’s heart is ever present. This is the depravity of the human heart, in that nothing good comes out of man. Today’s text seeks to emphasize this. This is a danger that makes necessary a return to Christ. He called on His disciples to come to Him and lay their burdens on Him.
God speaks through the Scriptures. These sacred writings are His voice and the Holy Spirit is the agent that confirms the words of God in the heart. The writer cited Psalm 95:7 as the voice of the Holy Spirit. His message that was to Israel then and to the church today is that when God’s people hear His voice they should not harden their hearts. The old nature of sin prevented Israel to listen to God’s voice. Thus the Exodus is characterised with stories of rebellion after rebellion. The text refers to provocation in the day of temptation. This was the period of forty years when Moses led Israel out of Egypt and was in the wilderness all those years. They could have completed their journey in a few days, but as the Lord said He swore that they would not enter into His rest. Israel had sided with the ten out of twelve spies who were sent to investigate the situation in the land of Canaan. They were condemned to wander in the wilderness until all the adults aged twenty and above (except for Joshua and Caleb) who rebelled had died.
Hardness of heart leads to danger, but anyone who will humble himself will be saved.
THOUGHT: Hardness of heart is a sin and its wages is death.
PRAYER: Father, may I never harden my heart when Thou speakest to me.