Soften my heart

Hebrews 3:  ¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

============

My heart was pounding as the numbers went higher and higher. Ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred! I was finally driving one hundred miles per hour for the first time! This exhilaration would lead to many speeding tickets and impatient driving tiffs that could have turned into accidents.

Oh no, I sound like an insurance commercial! Right in time for my daughter’s driving lessons.

• Sin is exhilarating!
• Sin is exciting!
• Sin is elating!
• Sin is my enigma!

Have you ever just stopped and wondered why GOD who made us doesn’t want us to sin? Well, I did this morning and there is something about sin that is quite fascinating.

• When I sin I rationalize my need to sin.
• The more I sin the more I rationalize the sin.
• The more I sin the worse I feel about GOD and HIS “rules.”
• Somewhere I rationalize that I no longer need GOD or HIS “rules.”

My heart can get hard quite rapidly with sin. My first question is “why does GOD seem to always have a rule against the stuff that seems ‘fun?’” Whoa! There is my problem. Anytime my question begins with “Why does GOD…” as it relates to my comfort then I always end up on the road to a hard heart.

Here are some better questions I could ask myself.

• Why does GOD love me so much?
• Why does GOD stop and listen to me when I pray even though I’m a scoundrel.
• Why did GOD take my punishment when I fully deserve the consequences?

Sin makes me question my relationship with GOD which in turn makes me question HIS ability, power, motive, presence inside of me and HIS position as GOD. I get deceived into wanting “my way” and thinking GOD’s way is crazy, slow, wrong or over there. I then blame other people or GOD for the “crop” that is growing from the seeds of sin “I” have sown.

GOD wants my conscience clear so I can hear HIM. Thank GOD for forgiveness and a new day!

• Are you blatantly sinning?
• Can you “reduce” your sin a little today in order to hear GOD?
• Are you actively seeking to hear GOD daily?