The Hardening Of The Heart
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles, uncategorized Tags: Bulletin Articles on the HeartFor several years now, drug companies have become profitable selling drugs that prevent hardening of the arteries, a condition that can lead to heart attacks which kill thousands of people every year.
However, a more serious condition than the hardening of the arteries exists and it cannot be prevented by any wonder drug. The prophet Zechariah warned the Israelites about this problem — they had hardened their hearts and refused to listen to the words of the Lord (Zechariah 7:8-14 – NKJV). Symptoms of this deadly condition were their refusal to execute true justice and their failure to show mercy and compassion (Zechariah 7:9 – NKJV). As a result, the Lord became angry and stopped listening to them (Zechariah 7:13 – NKJV).
While it’s important to keep plaque from forming in our arteries, it’s far more important to keep our hearts from becoming callous to people who are important to God such as widows, orphans, aliens, and the poor (Zechariah 7:10 – NKJV; cf. Deuteronomy 15:7-11 – NKJV; Isaiah 1:17 – NKJV; James 1:27 – NKJV).