Dull hearts

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 6:1-13

TO CHEW ON: “And He said, ‘Go and tell these people;
“Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”’” Isaiah 6:9

Isaiah’s encounter with God brings an overwhelming sense of his own sinfulness. But after the angel purifies his lips with a live altar coal, he responds to God’s call for help with “Here am I! Send me.”

It is then he gets the bad news. The people God is sending him to have dulled understanding. They will see but not see. Hear but not hear. Their hearts are blunted toward God and will be unreceptive to Isaiah.

A footnote in my Bible sheds cold light on the situation:

“The same message that softens a receptive heart also hardens an unreceptive heart. So in sending forth the message to a people known to be unreceptive, their condition is worsened.” (New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p.881)

In our society, which prides itself on skepticism and tolerance (at least toward every belief system that declares there are no absolutes), unreceptiveness toward the Gospel is common. Is there a chance some of that attitude has seeped into us and begun to calcify our own hearts?

The Bible speaks eloquently of the by-products of a dull, unbelieving heart.

1. Theological confusion  and dithering.

2. Moral confusion.

3. Marriage breakdown.

4. We become blind to the fact that sin’s attractiveness is a lie.

5. Miracles don’t happen.

6. We become vulnerable to calamity.

7. We become vulnerable to premature death.

8. There are repercussions on how we spend eternity.

I don't know about you - but I don't like those!

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me a sensitive, believing heart. Amen.

MORE: Keith Green sings his prayer for a softened heart in “My Eyes Are Dry.”

My Eyes Are Dry

My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up
With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood

- Keith Green, 1978