HEBREWS 3:12-13 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
THEME OF THE DAY: A WAY TO A HARDENED HEART. There are many causes that can lead to periods of spiritual barrenness. Every Christian knows these painful seasons. Our Bible reading is dry. Prayer is more of a mechanical function of mindless routine. Church attendance becomes dull habit, not a desire to satisfy a spiritual thirst or hunger for the Lord. And service in ministry? It just seems something we have to do out of commitment and not a joyful attitude of we get to serve. Yes, there are those painful periods in the spiritual life, and if not addressed, we will quickly find ourselves with a serious spiritual condition – a hardened heart.
In the opening sentence of today’s nugget, I mentioned there are many causes of spiritual barrenness, but I didn’t list them. Before I do, we must get it settled in our minds, these causes need our attention because they will lead to a hardened heart toward the Lord and things of the Lord. And to get from a hard heart to a soft, pliable, and teachable heart will be traveled on the painful road of Psalm 51 type of repentance. Now the list of causes of spiritual barrenness leading to a hardened heart.
It begins with neglect. First, neglect of the Bible and prayer followed by the lack of intentional obedience to the Lord’s commands, inconsistency in church attendance, neglecting fellowship with other believers, missing opportunities for discipling and serving the church, tolerating sin, indifference to pursuing holiness, and attachments to the pleasures and cares of this world. Quite a list!
But now it is time for a confession. My list is not complete. Perhaps you may add to it, but I do have one more that will harden our hearts fast. It is in today’s scripture. It is a failure to encourage other believers and that often . . .
“But encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).
The verb encourage does not mean give flattery or make a person feel good. It comes from the root word meaning to come alongside to give help. We may come alongside someone to help with words, but it goes beyond words. We might need to rethink what it means to encourage someone. It contains words that are helpful AND actions as well. And when it comes to the ministry of encouragement, it is a command to all believers and to be consistently obeyed. The seriousness of not obeying cannot be overstated because of the consequences – a hardened heart.
When it comes to the ministry of encouragement, it is so easy. The only hindrance is our lack of creativity and making ourselves available to others. It is also one that is easy to neglect because we tend to focus our lives on ourselves. To be an encourager requires a consistent denying of oneself, so the interests of Christ and others take center stage and move us into the ministry of encouragement.
A barren soul is preventable with Holy Spirit-empowered self-control, self-discipline, and self-denial to be in God’s Word and prayer in order to better know Him. This leads to loving Him which leads to a life of intentional obedience. And this same Spirit of God will lead us consistently into the ministry of encouragement which goes a long way in preventing a barren soul and a hardened heart.
PRAYER: Father, guard my heart from being hardened because of my lack of encouraging other Christians.
REFLECTION: The Christian life is lived denying oneself to serve the interests of Christ and others.