August 1

Day 140: Diamond-Hard

The last few verses of Zechariah chapter 7 give a brief yet accurate synopsis of Old Testament history.

"They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets."

Deb and I are watching (mind you, not binging) on yet another historical drama series, set in medieval England. While full of palace intrigue and bloodshed, I've also noticed how everyone subject to the king knows their subservient status.

The king's subjects all know their place, their rank, their role. They are indeed subject to the king. They listen to the king's every word. They do everything the king tells them to do, without fail, without dissension. To do otherwise results in only banishment...or beheading.

They leave conversations with the king, never turning their backs, always bowing as they leave the room walking backwards.

Not so God's people. They did not want to listen to their King. They ignored what their God had to say, what He commanded. Their hearts became diamond-hard, like an impregnable castle.

So Zechariah follows with, "Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts."

In what form, this Godly anger?

"'As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,' says the LORD of hosts."

Even a cursory reading of the running history in the Old Testament proves this to have been true. The people receive the Law, and with it God's presence, His pleasure, His ear.

Yet they rejected all of that, until such times as when they actually needed God to intervene and do some saving work on their behalf. Treating the LORD of hosts like a vending machine.

Finally, and as we know, God had finally come to a breaking point. He relocated them away from the land, and by extension, His ear. He was no longer listening.

"...and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate."

Because their hearts were diamond-hard against Him. They all wanted to be the king, so for generations they had ignored the commands of the King who was King.

I hope this is not true of us, we modern day Christians. I hope it will not be said of us that we were disobedient, rebellious subjects of our King.

In our day, we may not hear God's voice, because we are distracted; listening to so many other voices. We even admit that our recreational pursuits are an intended "distraction" from life's worries and obligations. We purchase or play in order to clear our heads.

We may be guilty of taking more stock in keeping up with our chosen news sources, or our many social media friends, instead of seeking to know the heart of God, expressed in obeying His will for us.

We will misplace and reorient our priorities, because we feel entitled to do so. Potentially resulting in diamond-hard hearts.

When we should never be turning our backs, and instead bowing to our King, with open ears and pliable hearts.

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau