If You’re Heart is Hard, You’ll Give Up When Life Gets Hard
When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do” Exodus 24:3.
I think it’s interesting that the Israelites always said they’d obey the Lord. But as soon as it got hard, they got angry and rebellious. And they eventually gave up on their faith and wanted to go back to Egypt. To read the whole chapter, click here.
From a Right Heart to a Hard Heart
They had a right heart initially, but they didn’t have any or enough endurance. This reminds me of the seed that was sown on the rocky ground in the parable of the sower.
“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away” Mathew 13: 20, 21.
The reason the seed, which is the word, or promise (Luke 8:11) doesn’t have roots is because it’s in rocky ground. The ground isn’t shallow, but it has many hard places in it. Because of this, the seed can’t develop a root system to protect it from the hot, drying sun.
Why They Gave Up
This is why the Israelites gave up their faith when it got hard: their hearts were hard. Because of this, the promise God had given them about the land flowing with milk and honey withered in the hot sun. The sun represents trouble or hardship (Mathew 13:21).
The fact that their hearts were hard is confirmed in Hebrews 3:8. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness”. The Israelites hardened their hearts.
Because of this, the promise God gave them was not able to develop roots. (The ground represents our heart, See Mathew 13:19).
And, as soon as hardship came along on the way to what God had promised them, the seed (the promise) withered. Because it didn’t have roots to protect it from the hot sun.
To read another post similar to If Your Heart is Hard, You’ll Give Up When Life Gets Hard, click here: If You Harden Your Heart Your Life Will Be Hard or here: God’s Discipline: That’s Life.
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