Hardness of Heart

Our passages today were filled with examples of hardness of heart.
1. We saw Pharoah first. As God began the process of redeeming His people, He enabled Moses and Aaron to perform miracles before Pharoah: the staff turning into a snake, the waters of the Nile turning into blood. But none of these softened Pharoah's heart. In fact, they made his heart harder as he dug in refusing to let the people of Israel go. (Of course, there is something going on here below the surface. God said He would harden Pharoah's heart - an odd concept to us except for the fact that we know God is after a maximum display of His glory in Egypt, and somehow Pharaoh's hardness will be used for this important purpose. We will see how this unfolds in the days to come.)
2. Next we see hardness in the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. These villages had been favored with a visit from the Lord and on these visits He displayed His power. He performed signs that showed that the Kingdom of God was near, but the people were unaffected. Jesus declares that the judgment for these people will be more severe than for others who had not been so favored with demonstrations of the coming Kingdom.
3. In the parable of the Good Samaritan we see hardness of heart as well. It is the priest and the Levite who walk past the man in need. Those who were supposed to be most religious, who should know that at the heart of true religion is love for one's neighbor, merely walk on by revealing that their veneer of religion really covers a hard heart.
4. Finally, in 1 Cor 11 Paul speaks about those participating in the Lord's Supper. This rite which was to be a symbol of the unity of those in Christ was turning into an activity that was causing division, even humiliation for those less fortunate. Paul says that this should not be. He tells the people to eat and drink at home and then come and celebrate the Lord's death in a way that displays the unity of brothers. Only hardness of heart would have made the Corinthians blind to this abuse.
As can be seen hardness of heart is a common malady. So how can we avoid it? Can we avoid it? I think Jesus gave us a big hint in Luke 10:22 when he said, "All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. In the ultimate sense, the only answer to hardness of heart (unbelief) is that God acts on our heart. We saw that even in the face of miracles men still do not believe, but when God acts on us, the veil is removed from our eyes and our hearts begin to melt.
This truth is very humbling to us because we like to think we are masters of our own destiny, but the truth is there will be no boasting in heaven. We will all be there only because of the Lord pouring His mercy and grace upon us. And when this truth hits our hearts, when we realize the abundant mercies of our God, our heart does soften. We begin to realize how great is the love of God and our heart begins to flood with desire to love God and man with our all.
Have you been blown over by the Lord's mercies in your life? If you have, chances are your heart has been softened some. Now keep your eyes on those mercies and continue to taste their sweetness. That is an important means God will use to keep your heart from hardening.