Beware of a Hardened Heart

As I was having a devotion this morning, me and my wife were reading Ezekiel 34. It starts of with God condemning selfish shepherds for neglecting His sheep. He expresses His frustration and anger with them and brings judgment on them. In short, God is saying that He is not happy with His elected shepherds who fail to be shepherds.

As I was listening, I realized that God was showing me in His Word where I have been neglectful as a pastor. The problem: I felt no conviction, guilt, or any tingling feeling of shame. I read on as if the problem belonged to some other shepherd, but not me.

That is when I realized that I have a hard heart on the issue at hand.

So, what is a hardened heart?

A hardened heart is a heart that is no longer convicted by God’s Word. A hardened heart is a heart that no longer drives you to repentance. A heart that is stony is a heart where you listen to God’s Word, but no longer do it or live it. In short, a hardened heart is an unrepentant heart.

Do you have a hardened heart?

You might say, “aren’t hard hearts description of the unbeliever’s heart?” Yes, in one sense that is true. An unbeliever is hard at heart because he was born a rebel of God and continues to be one unless his heart is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. However,in another sense, having a hard heart is not merely an unbeliever’s problem.

Jeremiah warns s that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). James warns us that Christians can be listeners of the word but not doers (James 1:21). Jesus warns His followers not to be merely listeners, by expressing in a parable that such a behavior is foolishness, like building a house on sand (Matthew 7:24-27). The warnings in the passages assume that the listener (1) is a professing a follower of Christ, (2) is neglectful of having a humble heart, (3) needs a humble heart in order to walk in obedience.

So what are the signs that a Christian has a hardened heart? More importantly, how do we avoid having a hardened heart or be healed from a hardened heart?

Signs of a hardened heart

You know that you have a hardened heart when the following is a repeated pattern in your life. They are not arranged chronologically or by importance. They are just what comes to mind first.

1. You are no longer convicted of repeated sins. When you first sinned, you had no peace and are filled with shame. Yet as you repeated the sin in your life, the shame slowly fades away until it no longer exists in your heart. People call it normalization. God calls it a hardened heart.
2. You are no longer applying God’s Word to your own life. You used to be excited after every sermon – excited to live out the commands you heard in the sermon. After the sermon on the need to share the Gospel, you used to go out and find ways to try to share the Gospel. Now, you listen to the preaching and after that do nothing.
3. You rest on the fact that at least you are still being convicted of your sins. You may feel comforted because you’re heart is somewhat softer. Why? Because you feel you are still being convicted of your sin whenever you listen to God’s Word preached. You may even share a testimony that you are thankful because you still feel a conviction for your sins, and that it is a sign God still loves you (of course He does!). Yet, by being a hearer of the Word and not a doer, James said, you deceive yourself. Being boastful that it is somewhat slightly softer than others is like boasting your cup of poisoned water has less poison than the other cups and therefore more drinkable and less hazardous (no it’s not).
4. You blame others (people or situations) for your spiritual sickness. Previously, you walk away from your devotion sorry for your sins and promising God to do better next time. Whether it is doing your devotions faithfully or attending church regularly. Now, when you missed attending Sunday Services every other week, you merely blame your busy schedule. You blame the pastor for not preaching something that speaks to your soul.
5. You view the preaching of God’s Word less and less relevant in your life. There was a time you looked forward to the Sunday service. Why? You felt the sharpened sword piercing your heart. You felt the fire of His Word refining your character. You felt the sweetness of His Word comforting you in your darkest days. Yet now, you think that it’s good for the newbies. But you, the 20-year Christian, oh, for you, it’s not what it used to be. It is now a bore, a chore, to listen to a 50-minute sermon.

The problem with a hard heart is this: repentance is not possible. you cannot repent for something you don’t feel sorry for. You can’t change something that you feel you have no responsibility over.

And so, you will remain stuck in your hard heart, until God’s grace rescues you, or until you come before the white throne judgement of God almighty, who searches and judges the unseen heart.

Signposts to avoid or be healed of the hard heart.

The good news is, God has not left you to your hard heart. Throughout Scripture He instructs His prophets to keep preaching His Word to his people even if they have a hard heart. Why? God says, who knows, they may turn away from their sins and repent. Today, God continually speaks to His people. He continues to speak to you through His Word. So take heart, don’t think you cannot avoid or cannot be healed of your hard heart.

You can be healed of a hard heart. You can avoid letting your heart harden. How? Again five ways. Also, again these are not chronological. You can start with any of them.

1. Change the way you see your heart. Look at your heart the way God describes it. It is deceitful above all things. This means, don’t immediately trust what you feel. If you are not feeling guilty, but you know the verse speaks about you, trust the verse, not your feelings about the verse.
2. Change the way you see God’s Word. Believe what God says about His Word. It is His mirror for you to see your flaws and sins. It is His refining tool to mold you to be pure as gold. It is His bread that nourishes you. It is His training tool to complete you, a man of God fit for every good work. If you have a hard heart right now. He is not done with you yet. He shows He is not done, because you keep hearing His Word. Right?
3. Confess your hard heart before God. Confess your stony heart. Tell Him honestly how you are no longer feeling convicted everytime you hear a message about being holy. Tell him how even if you are convicted, you struggle with repenting of your sinful romantic relationship. Don’t sugar-coat your confession with words like: “minsan, hindi mapigilan, or tao lang ako.” Confess you are wrong. Why? Remember 1 John 1:9. The passage applies to those who truly bare their sins before God, and not to those who try to apply a strawberry flavored, sugar glaze on their sins.
4. Run, run to Christ. Remember Jesus’ name. What does it mean? Matthew 1:21 says that His name means that He will save His people from their sins. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus can save you from your hard heart? Then run to Him! He wants you to. Run to Him in your morning closet. Run to Him in your darkest hour. Run to Him when you sense that Your heart no longer repents. Run to Him. Why? Because He is mighty to save. He can and will save you from your hard heart. He can take a stony heart and turn it into a heart of flesh. He can do that for an unbeliever. He can do it more and more for you who believes in Him.
5. Don’t let go of Christ until He changes your heart. He will. You might say, “I have run to Him countless times, but my heart still hasn’t changed.” Oh when you ran quickly to Him, did you also ran away from Him quickly after He had not changed your heart at your insisted time table? God is God, you are not. He changes you according to His timing and ways. So, if you don’t feel change, wrestle with Him until He changes you. Like Jacob wrestling with God in the wilderness, don’t let go until the Holy Spirit changes your heart. Like the Canaanite woman who insists Jesus heal her child even if she seems like a dog looking for scraps, humble yourself before Jesus and keep insisting, until Jesus fulfills His promise to you – to deliver you from the power of sin.

So saint, if you have a hard heart. Don’t let it remain that way. Humble yourself. Run to Christ. Walk again with a heart that submits to His Will. He promises to resist you who are proud. He also promises to give grace to you who are humble.