by Pastor Greg Laurie
“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.”
Sometimes some of the worst sinners are people raised in Christian homes, because they rebel against it. On the other hand, sometimes some of the greatest saints come from Christian homes. It just depends on the person and what they are willing to do to be the best they can be as a person submitted to Jesus Christ.
We love to put all the blame on the parents. But we have a say about the direction we take in life, regardless of how we were raised (or not raised). In reality, we need to have our own faith. We can’t live off the faith of someone else. We need our own relationship with Jesus Christ.
Actually, one of the easiest places our hearts can become hardened to the gospel is in the church. As we hear the truth of the gospel, as we hear the truth of God’s Word, we decide whether we’ll be responsive or resistant to it.
The same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay. Let’s take the pharaoh of Egypt for example. Moses went to him and demanded that he release the Hebrews from captivity. Then Pharaoh watched miracle after miracle that Moses performed by the power of God. Yet Pharaoh hardened his heart again and again.
But then we read that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Is it a contradiction? No, it’s two sides of the same coin. Pharaoh was the one who decided to harden his heart in the presence of God. We could translate that word hardened as “strengthened.” In other words, the Lord strengthened Pharaoh in the decision he already made. God simply confirmed Pharaoh in his choice.
Pharaoh dedicated himself to evil in direct opposition to God’s redemptive plan. He chose evil; God did not choose it for him. In fact, God offered him opportunity after opportunity to repent, but he decided not to.
Yes, hearts can become hard, even in church. So be careful.
This was too good to pass up. Why? Because if I am being honest, it happened to me and it can happen to you. None of us like knowing we can be wrong but the most liberating thing about Christianity is that we admit our wrong, recognize it for what it is, confess that wrong to the Lord and be willing to change! By the way, sometimes it may mean going to those we have harmed and ask for their forgiveness.
Knowing Jesus is the beginning of true wisdom!
See you next blog,
Ted
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