The Path Of Our Stony Heart
“Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake.” Luke 8:36-37 NLT
The story of the people in the region of Gerasenes begging Jesus to go away and leave them alone after witnessing the deliverance of the demon possessed man is a demonstration of the truth when our hearts are hardened by worldly values and materialism we will ask God to leave us alone. When our heart is hardened into a path, our lives will fulfill the words of Isaiah 6:9-10:
“When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.” Mark 4:12 NLT
This is a description of our spiritual sickness and Jesus came to heal us of our sin filled human nature. The comforts of life and wealth can become so much more important than living a life that matters. It is in success that we will face our greatest temptations and live in denial of the futility and emptiness of a life that is outside the will of God. It is not the will of God for us to suffer or to be in hell. Evil forces are seeking to keep us from the Kingdom of God. Jesus taught his followers the secrets of the Kingdom of God through the parables so that they can have a foretaste of heaven here and now. And the parable of the Sower holds the key to understand all the other parables:
“Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?” Mark 4:13 NLT
The COVID 19 pandemic has turned the world upside down so that we can be turned right side up with God. Lent is an excellent time for a spiritual heart check-up - has my heart been hardened into a path? What are my dreams that God has to break so that I can see more clearly His beautiful dream for me? How am I being tempted to worship fame, wealth and success? Before Jesus began his ministry, he had to face the temptation to worship Satan:
“Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” Matthew 4:8-10 NLT
God will seem far away and unreachable when our sins cut us off from God - our separation from God is always a matter of our own doing. But the good news is that God is not far away - not even five minutes away - when we exercise our will to have God in our life and to live our life in God. Danny Morris discovered the spiritual truth pronounced by the prophet Isaiah:
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.” Isaiah 59:2-3 NKJV
Danny Morris gives us the following prescription:
“If you are to know God fully, there is no substitute for this complete, total surrender. When you surrender your will to God, so that you will for you, what God wills for you, it is done. You are living in God and God is living in you!”
To live a life of total surrender involves the spiritual disciplines of prayer, giving and fasting. In prayer we demonstrate our repentance as we turn to God. In giving to the church we express our trust in God’s providence. In fasting we are reminded of our need to rest in God. These disciplines are not rituals to earn God’s blessings. They are our concrete responses to the love of God that we have experienced - just like a wife who submits to her husband in response to his love for her and not to manipulate him to love her.
Furthermore, a life of total surrender does not guarantee a life that is free from pain and suffering. It is to have a life that is filled with meaning and purpose and freedom from fear and despair. We will have the peace that is beyond human understanding and joy unspeakable to face whatever life throws at us when God's presence is with us in our dark valleys as well as our exhilarating mountaintop experiences.
Our hearts will be the soil for the seed of God’s love and we have the confident hope of salvation when the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with God’s love (Romans 5:4-5). But when the spiritual condition of our heart is a path, we will be like the people of Gerasenes who asked Jesus to go away and leave them alone. Let us pray for God to take our life and make it His. Lent is a time to explore spiritual “experiments” - to find new ways of praying, giving and fasting to break up the path of a hardened heart that we may live out Wesley Covenant Prayer:
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.”
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