DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART TO THE VOICE OF GOD.
HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS.
"The Holy Spirit says: Oh, that today you would hear his voice, “Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart, and they do not know my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”
Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end." (Hebrews 3: 7 - 14).
An evil and unfaithful heart is one that conveniently forgets all that God has done for him. He is not constant in prayer nor steadfast with acts of devotion.
The word of God wants us to be our brother's keeper. "Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin." (Hebrews 3: 13). The lure and the lust of sin are everywhere. This is why the ministry of encouragement is sorely needed in the Church today.
Never forget that without perseverance and constancy we cannot make it to the Kingdom of God. "We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end." (Hebrews 3: 14).
Brothers and sisters, encourage one another with prayers and the word of God.
There is more stern message from the First Reading today (Hebrews 3: 7 - 14).
“Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for forty years." (Hebrews 3: 8 - 10)
Meribah was the Desert of testing, the combat zone between God and His people. God tested the people to see if they had an obedient heart. The people tested God by their obstinacy. There ensued a battle of two strong wills. Who won? It took 40 years to subdue the people.
Lesson: "Oh, that today you would hear his voice, ‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion."
How do we hear God?
God speaks to us through the following ways:
1. Inspiration.
2. Locution.
3. Sacred Scripture.
4. Prophetic utterance of a person.
5. Dream.
When God speaks to us and we do not listen, we harden our hearts.
Where is your Meribah today? Please yield to God. Do not let your heart be hardened like Pharoah or Nebuchadnezer. Rebellion is worthless. God will always win.
The Church honors the Most Holy Name of Jesus in January.
“The name of Jesus is the crowning glory of preachers. It is due to him that their preaching and its reception are blessed with extraordinary enlightenment. How else in the world could the fervent light of faith be kindled so suddenly if not by the name of Jesus? It is not by the light of this name that God is said to have called us into his own glorious light? To the enlightened who see light in that light, Saint Paul says: “You were once all darkness; now you are all light in the Lord; walk then as children of the light.” It is not a name to be hidden; it is to be proclaimed for its light to shine. An unclean heart and a sordid mouth are no fit way to speak this name. The preacher should be a choice vessel, holding and proffering this name." (St Bernardine of Siena).
For the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and prayer intentions click the link below:
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