Zechariah 7: 8-14
«Do not harden your heart» Psalm 95: 8
Pharmaceutical companies bill billions of dollars selling drugs that prevent hardening of the arteries, a disease that can lead to heart attacks, which kill thousands of people every day.
However, a disease more serious than the hardening of the arteries, is the hardening of the heart, and no miracle medicine can prevent it. The prophet Zechariah warned the Israelites about it. They had hardened their hearts and refused to listen to the Lord's words. The symptoms of this mortal condition were his refusal to execute true justice and his failure to show mercy and compassion (Zechariah 7: 9). As a result, the Lord became angry and stopped listening to them (v. 13).
While it is important to prevent an obstruction from forming in our arteries, even more important is to keep our hearts from becoming insensitive to people who are important to God: widows, orphans, foreigners and the poor (v. 10) .
It is crucially important to follow our doctor's orders to prevent our arteries from hardening. But even more crucial is to obey God to keep our hearts from hardening to the needs of others.
Ask God to remember someone who needs the help of someone with a tender heart.
To love Christ is to have compassion for others.
