PrintSEASON ONE - "Hardness"
In my last post I indicated that the parable of the sower was stirring my heart and mind in a new direction; new for me, anyway. Now I want to pursue this quest in what will probably be four entries. I plan to include the explanations given by Jesus in the three gospels where they appear.
"The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their hearts".(Matthew 13/19)
"The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then Satan comes at once and takes it away from them". (Mark 4/15)
"The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then the Devil comes and steals it away and prevents them from believing and being saved". (Luke 8/12)
I put this season first simply because that is where it sits in the parable. The seasons of the soul do not necessarily follow the same sequence like our seasons in nature i.e. spring, summer, autumn, winter. I appreciate that there are those who find it difficult to equate "hardness of heart" with Christians. Surely this is a condition of the human heart that describes the condition of those who resist the gospel and, therefore, are outside the Kingdom of God. That's true. Luke's account of the parable specifically refers to people "believing and being saved".
But I believe that this condition goes beyond the unbeliever. In Matthew 10/5 Jesus spoke of the religious leaders having hard hearts. In fact, I want to argue that we will encounter more hardness of heart among religious people than among the so-called "outsiders". Religious people tend to be legalists and legalists are almost always "hard of heart".
In Hebrews 3 & 4 we find multiple references or warnings to Christians about the possibility of their hearts becoming hardened - a strange warning if it is not possible for such hardness to occur. But how can the hearts of believers become hardened?
First, I note that this hardening process is exactly that - a process. In other words, it takes time for a soft heart to be pounded down by the constant traffic of life until the seed of God's word cannot lodge, let alone germinate.
Second, this hardening process is the result of some form of rebellion or, to use the time-honoured word - SIN. "Today, when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness". (Hebrews 3/7,8)
What takes place in this season is a kind of desensitizing. There is a slow loss of feelings in the realm of things spiritual; so slow that one hardly knows it is happening. One of the first signs of this process is the realization that we are no longer bothered or disturbed (at least not to the same degree previously) by those thoughts, words and actions that we once knew were wrong.
What's worse is that we may even be consciously rationalizing those thoughts, words and actions in an attempt to justify them to ourselves and others. Through all this we may become aware that our sense of "conviction of sin" - once fairly acute - is diminishing in intensity. A spiritual apathy is developing in our life and our relationship with God. Without some kind of intervention, the Word of God will lose its power in our life.
Is there an antidote or solution for the impact of this season in my life? Yes, I believe some of this remedy at least is found in Hebrews 3/12-15 " Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. But never forget the warning: "Today you must listen to his voice. Don't harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled."
Part of the solution is found in belonging to a community of faith where there is mutual support and accountability. The difficulty with that observation is this: the very hardness that may be developing in our lives will see us withdrawing from that faith community - relationally if not physically.
More on this in my next post.
