MARK 3:1-6: Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him”
Apart from the rejection of the love of God in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, what is revealed in today’s scripture is the most grievous thing a person may do to the heart of God. Now the former, an unbeliever does – reject the Gospel, but the latter, and this is what makes it such a heinous sin, it only happens to the believer; to the person who has tasted of the love of God.
Here are the words of the Lord Jesus detailing this heinous sin: And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart. A hard heart. This is the most dangerous of conditions in which to find oneself. Here are some sad consequences of a hard heart.
First, and obvious from Jesus’ words is the grieving of the heart of God. What a thought! We who experienced the marvelous grace of the Lord Jesus giving us new life and a new heart to then, by spiritual neglect and worldliness, allow a hard heart is the saddest of things to ever occur in a believer. And when this hardness of heart takes hold, two more consequences emerge.
When a hard heart settles in, our view of people is one of indifference. We are not burdened to see lost people come to Christ which means we never share the Gospel. And this indifference also happens among Christians. We don’t minister encouragement and serve one another in love .A hard heart is a selfish heart and when selfishness joins a hard heart, we won’t serve people, we will ignore people
A final sad consequence of a hard heart is a lack of zeal for the Lord. We will neglect church, prayer, the Word, and have little to any remorse. Not only is this sad, but dangerous. The more we allow a hard heart to grieve the heart of God, the more painful will be our return home to Him. The road of recovery for the prodigal son was not a smooth journey. Guilt, sorrow, regret, even spiritual depression, are often the experiences of the awakened Christian in whom God is changing a hard heart to a soft and tender heart
Grieving the heart of God. Shiver over such a thought and let the shivering of the heart lead to a guarding of the heart by placing a constant watch over the heart to prevent its hardening.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me for the times I do grieve Your heart by allowing a coldness of my heart.”
QUOTE: “Stay close to the heart of God to avoid a cold heart to God. Let His love keeps yours ablaze.”