Have you ever known someone who had a hardened heart toward God? Perhaps a friend has told you about a loved one who has a hardened heart toward God. You would think as a person gets older and closer to eternity that their heart would soften toward God. Although I have read several stories of people coming to faith on their death bed, this is usually the exception. Most people come to faith before age 14, and the older you get, the fewer people come to know Jesus as their Savior. As we get older, we get set in our ways. People are a little bit like concrete. When you first pour out concrete it is easy to mold and to shape, but as each day passes it gets harder. People hearts are not much different.
The Pharaoh had a hardened heart toward God. Exodus 7:3 But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” [1]
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! 11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. 12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted. [2]
What hardens a person heart toward God? Each person has free will and we can decide not to listen or follow God. Our human sinful nature and the power of satan blinds people to the truth. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Cor. 4:4“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” [3]
The good news is if you have a hardened heart toward God it does not have to stay that way. We can cry out to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to soften our heart. We can confess our sins to God and ask to be forgiven and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. When we do, a hard softens. When our heart softens, we are better able to hear the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. When my heart is softened, I begin to want to follow the Lord.
It is never too late to cry out to God to change your heart!
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[1,2,3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.