Amidst the sounds of the generators I hear the buzz of a blow-dryer. “Why?” you may ask is my blow-dryer running outside? Our water is frozen in the pipes. So in addition to no power most of the day we have no water. So far no luck with the blow-dryer. Despite my best efforts to wrap the pipes, the water froze. Someday, though, the water will melt.
We can melt frozen water, but how do we melt a cold heart? Pharaoh’s heart was hardened against God and the Israelites. The Bible actually reports this in two different ways. In Exodus 8:32, Pharaoh is said to harden his heart. Then in our passages for today, more than once we read that God hardened his heart.
Who is really responsible for a hardened heart? True, God is sovereignly working. But we are still responsible for our own attitudes. Pharaoh set his will against God and God let him go where he wanted to go. Later at Meribah God’s own people hardened their hearts against God.
What about our hearts? Keith Green sang for many of us, “My eyes are dry. My faith is old. My heart is hard. My prayers are cold.” The first step to softening our hearts is to recognize their condition. On a scale from diamond to chalk, how would you gauge the condition of your heart.
God’s word still stands. Today if we hear his voice, let us not harden our hearts. If our hearts are hard, God can soften them. Keith Green explained how: “Oh what can be done for an old heart like mine? Soften it up with oil and wine. The oil is You, your Spirit of love. Please wash me anew in the wine of your blood.”
