When you mention the heart all sorts of ideas come into our minds. Some think of love where our hearts are engaged emotionally. Others think of the physical heart, the life-sustaining organ that keeps our blood pumping. Spiritually it can be soft or hard, open or closed to God, and those around us. It is important that we check the condition of our heart from time to time, to make sure it is spiritually healthy. It is much more important than the physical health of our heart.
A hardened heart in the dictionary is defined as cold, insensitive, unfeeling, and unyielding. It is unsympathetic, incapable of being moved by pity or tenderness. Most of us have a soft heart toward those we love, but what about the things God loves, or even God himself?
When God created us, he gave us the ability to make choices. We can harden our hearts and shut out unwanted influences. This can be a good thing if we are making choices to shut out the influence of sin, but it can be bad when we use it to shut out the influence of the Holy Spirit, which is seeking to show us areas we need to change.
In the book of Exodus, we see Pharaoh’s heart hardened toward God’s people as he refused to let them go from captivity. God dealt with him through plagues to influence him to let them go, but each time Pharaoh only hardened his heart more. Fifteen times in Exodus we are told Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.
In the book of Mark, we see Jesus walking on the water to His disciples in their boat. They were afraid, and the bible says it was because they had forgotten the miracles because their heart was hardened. It amazes me that they were with Him and yet even they could become hard-hearted. Somehow, they were not comprehending the big picture. Not being in tune with the spiritual things of life is an indication our heart is not as soft and pliable toward God as it should be.
Mark 6:49-52 “But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”
In Mark 8:17 Jesus again addresses His disciples on the issue of a hard heart. Then in the next verse, he gives symptoms of a hard heart.
Mark 8:17-18 “And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?”
A hard heart will skew our thinking. What we perceive to be one way is another. We can’t understand, we are unable to hear, see, or remember when God is speaking or dealing with us. A hard-hearted person is unable to understand and apply what God is doing in their life.
Whatever we are focused on is where our hearts will be. If we are focused on the things of God, we will become softened to them. If we are focused on our children or our jobs, our hearts will become softened toward them. If the disciples had thought much about the miracles they had just seen, if they had been in awe, they wouldn’t have been shocked when they saw Jesus walking on water. Whatever consumes our attention will gain our hearts. If we will focus on the spiritual instead of the natural more, we won’t have any problem believing and trusting that God will take care of us. The Bible makes it very clear in Philippians 4:8 what we are to think upon. If we control our thinking, we can stay focused on the things of God.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Any of us can get so busy that we allow our hearts to become cold to the things of God. We can go through the motions of serving while growing further and further away from God, but a hard heart does have a remedy. If we will turn to God, ask for forgiveness, and seek to keep Him first we can keep a tender heart.
