“And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
“And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.”
Zechariah 7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me: “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’” And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 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. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”
Jeremiah 5:3 O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
Ezekiel 3:7-9 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.
Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
What does a life look like with hard or soft hearts for God. We can easily see the ones that are hardened against God and as well those that are soft for God. What about those who are negligent in humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him and yet on the outside there is nothing visible. They neither speak against or for God. They are neutral, neither committing one way or another. This practice of minimal heart, mind and soul commitment seems to be the norm anymore. These will never find true peace, joy, rest, comfort, courage, faith or love. The lack of “all in commitment” is a hardened heart. It is a heart that does not hear the whispers of God. It is a mind with very shallow understanding of the power, might, sovereignty, grace, mercy and love. Our culture would seem to favor a neutral position on God in favor of tolerance and not wanting to offend anyone. We are also warned about being lukewarm in Revelation. Jesus said we are to be the light until a lost world. We are to make disciples and the light of the gospel needs to be seen in our actions and words. God’s word says to proclaim the gospel, to live with your whole heart, mind and soul committed to humbly serving and proclaiming Him. Do not listen to the whispers of Satan and our culture that want to subdue the gospel and it being lived out and proclaimed in our lives.
