Date: Tuesday, 23rd July, 2024
Text: Mark 8:13-21
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
The condition of the heart is of paramount importance to God because the heart is the seat or center of decision making and thoughts which eventually influence or controls our actions. The heart is a strategic focal point which acts as a battleground between the human (sinful) nature and the divine nature. Who wins the battle of your heart depends on whose side you are on.
The word of God says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs4:23.
A spiritually healthy heart is broken, soft, teachable and yielded to doing the will of God. But unfortunately, most people are spiritually diagnosed to possess hardened hearts. A hardened heart is cold and unresponsive to the control of the Holy Spirit.
One of the characteristics of living things is sensitivity or irritability; that is, ability to respond to stimuli. A dead body is no longer able to respond to any form of external touches. The remains of a dead animal or human gradually become stiff (hard) and cold; as times goes on decay sets in.
Similarly, a hardened heart is dead, unyielding, unresponsive and disobedient to the will of God. In today’s text the Lord Jesus Christ rebuked even his own disciples for demonstrating hardness of heart. He said to them, “Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?” Mark 8:17-18.
How about your heart?
Prayer Nugget: By the power of the Resurrection and Life of Christ we receive a reawakening from every spiritual deadness and hardness of the heart in Jesus name.