Hardened Hearts

Did you ever try to walk a dog and suddenly have the dog not want to go any further?  It is very easy to lead a dog or any pet who is willing.  A simple tug on a leash will direct the dog to go a certain way.  Part of the dog’s willingness to follow the commands of its owner is the trust that has been established between the dog and the person.  The dog knows, instinctively and through experience, that the person wants what’s best for it, and therefore it follows, at least most of the time.

There are times when the dog decides it just doesn’t want to obey.  Most of the time that is out of fear.  A dog may not want to go outside because it hears thunder or fireworks in the distance.  So, when the person puts the leash on and pulls the dog, the usually obedient dog puts all four paws solid on the ground and refuses to move.  The dog suddenly seems to have a hardness of heart.  Once all loving and obedient, the dog suddenly refuses to do what the master wants. 

There are of course many reasons for disobedience.  Fear is only one reason.  It could be a distraction.  It could be an urge or uncontrolled desire that suddenly turns the dog against the wishes of the person.  The dog suddenly forgets the loyalty and obedience it had based on that trusting relationship it had with the person who cares for it.

Human beings, of course, are not dogs.  We are not animals.  We are made in the image and likeness of God.  And yet perhaps, if we are honest, our abuse of the gift of free-will often reduces our actions to that of pets.  We decide that even though we are in relationship with the one who not only created us, but even more wondrously saved us, our urges, our desires, our petty plans are more important than what he might desire for us.  So, we put “all fours” down.  We develop hardness of hearts.  He gently pulls the leash in the right direction, and we often pull harder in the direction we want to go.

God’s moral law is set in natural law.  It should be easy for us to understand.  We should see it as a pathway to true freedom, that is freedom to choose good, what is pleasing, what is life-giving, what is loving, what is therefore perfect.  We should see it as freedom of the slavery of sin, and yet we see it as restrictive and stifling.  And while we develop this hardness of hearts, we see before us only a loving God, whose heart is very soft.  So perhaps, if we are honest, instead of imitating his loving heart, we take advantage of it.  God wants me to be happy and free, so I know that despite my hard heart, he will ultimately forgive me.  That might be so, but, in the meantime, we are stuck in one place, with “all fours” planted on the ground, not moving to where our all-loving God wants us to go.

- The Servant