It’s fascinating to see your own heart. Recently, I did. Chest pain led me to see a doctor, who ordered tests that allowed me to see that my heart has calcium buildup. More than I should have. Atherosclerosis, the doctors call it: hardening of the arteries.
I’ve made big diet and exercise changes. But I’ve also realized that my cardiac concerns didn’t emerge overnight. In my case, they were the fruit of unhealthy choices. In time, those habits couldn’t help but impact my heart’s health.
Scripture uses similar language to describe being spiritually unhealthy. Our hearts can gradually grow hardened toward God—one day and one choice at a time. Hebrews 3:7-8 (referencing Psalm 95:7-8) says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” After God delivered His people from Egypt, they “tested and tried [Him]” (v. 9) during their time in the wilderness.
God had faithfully provided for His people, but they refused to see it (vv. 9-10). What about us? What habits nudge us away from God—day by day hardening our hearts against Him? We all make some of those choices. So I’m thankful that today, right now, God offers to exchange our hearts of stone for those softened by His love (see Ezekiel 36:26).
How is God drawing you closer to Him? How can you learn to hear His voice?
Dear Father, sometimes my heart gets tired. Please forgive me for choosing the wrong things. Help me embrace Your offer to cleanse and soften my hard heart.
Hebrews 3:7-15 is a reflection on the ongoing relevance of the terms today (vv. 7, 13) and rest (v. 11) from key Old Testament passages. Today in Psalm 95:7, for example, captures a moment in Israel’s wilderness sojourn when they hardened their hearts and didn’t respond with belief—a related theme developed further in Hebrews 4. A whole generation missed the rest that the promised land graciously offered to those who’d take God at His word. The writer of Hebrews compares this rest with the seventh day of creation, which is itself an invitation into God’s rest (vv. 4-6). To completely trust in His work, rather than our own, is literally our ultimate “Sabbath-rest” (v. 9). Today, we can ask God to soften our hardened hearts and rest in His love.
