ZECHARIAH 7:12 – They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts.

THEME OF THE DAY. LEARN FROM THEM. How do you read your Bible? Are you a “hit and miss” reader just drifting along to whatever moves you on a specific day? Maybe you are a “favorite passage” type of reader who gravitates to the Psalms, Gospels, or the book of Revelation. Still yet, you might be a heavy dose of the New Testament-type of reader who rarely mines the gold of God’s Word in the Old Testament. Before we move into the theme of the day in today’s nugget, allow me to make a couple of suggestions about reading the Bible. First, have a plan and be organized about it. After all, God is a God of order. Now I am not advocating being a slave to a reading plan, but I do think it is a good practice for every Christian to read through the Bible yearly. Yes, you can do it. It takes a commitment of about twenty minutes a day and every one of us has the time. We waste twenty minutes a day on something that could be disciplined toward reading our Bibles. Another way to read the Bible is do so devotionally. What I mean by that is stop and think what we are reading. It is God’s love letter so approach the Bible with affection. We are coming to meet the God who is love and longs for our company. Still yet, go beyond reading the Bible to studying the Bible. This may mean word and subject studies or specific book studies, but above all, be faithful – daily – to read God’s Word. And please, don’t say, “I don’t like to read”. Remember, God likes to read. After all, He gave us a book! Should this be a challenge, pray and ask God to give you both the love of reading and discipline to read. Now the theme of the day . . .

One of the additional things we must remember when approaching the Bible is there are many examples of people to follow – some good, some not so good. Don’t lose sight of this as described by the Apostle Paul – Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:11-12). There are times both Old and New Testament examples serve us as warnings of what not to do and the consequences God brings upon them as a result of their disobedience. Today’s scripture is one of those warnings that should make us shiver as on a cold winter’s morning. It is serious. In fact, the condition described of God’s people is the most serious we may find ourselves. It is having a “diamond-hard” heart which is the picture of severe backsliding; spiritual insensitivity and this isn’t about unbelievers. For believers, a “diamond-hard” heart would be revealed by coming to church, sitting under the preached Word and never being moved or changed – week in, week out. It would also be revealed by having no desire for prayer, no desire to know God, no desire for heaven, no desire to be holy . . . basically having become so spiritually insensitive, nothing of the Lord – His Word, prayer, fellowship with His people – touches our heart and moves our wills. So to heed this warning and maintain “soft clay hearts” moldable in the hands of our Divine Potter, there are two things we must do and that consistently.

First, do not delay any obedience to known commands. James tells us, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). Allow laziness, the world, the difficulty of obeying God or anything/anyone else prevent our obedience, and the path to a “diamond-hard” heart has just been started. Another thing we must do is daily, yes, daily seek the Lord in His Word and prayer. Spiritual neglect leads to spiritual hardness. And it doesn’t take long. Don’t let busyness make you spiritually barren. Heed the warnings. That is why God gave them to us. May He help us learn from the past and not develop a “diamond-hard” heart.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to heed the warnings when Your people of old rebelled and keep me from modeling them.”

QUOTE: “God’s dealing with us is unchanging. For the obedient Christian, this is comforting but not for the disobedient.”