Daily Devotional for August 9, 2018
Hardened Hearts
“Oh no!” Aaron skidded to a stop at a driveway with a rope across it and signs reading “Stay Off—Wet Cement!” He jumped from his bike to keep from falling and landed in the gooey cement, which stuck to his feet like mud. He took off a shoe and wiped it on the grass, then used it to try smoothing the cement back into place. But that only added pebbles and grass into the quickly-hardening mixture. Maybe I can do a better job if I use some tools, Aaron thought. So he got on his bike and headed home.
Mom was not happy when she heard what happened. “You should have told whoever lives in that house about it right away,” she said. “You’d better hurry right back. Maybe there’s still time to fix the cement. If not, you need to offer to pay for repairing it.”
Aaron hurried back and saw a man coming out of the house. “I—I’m sorry, sir,” Aaron told him. “I wasn’t paying attention, and I messed up your cement. I’ll find some way to pay for it.”
The man frowned. “Why didn’t you come and tell me what happened right away?”
Aaron stared at his feet. “I wanted to fix it, so I went home to get some tools. But I think I took too long—it looks like it’s pretty hard now.”
The man stared at the cement. “Do you know that people’s hearts are something like that cement?” he asked.
Aaron was startled. “What do you mean?”
“I work with people in a retirement home, and I see many who are set in their worldly ways,” the man explained. “They heard about Jesus when they were younger but came up with excuse after excuse not to put their trust in Him, and their hearts became hardened against God’s love and forgiveness.”
Aaron looked down at the cement. “My dad took me to church once, and the pastor talked about how Jesus died on the cross to save us. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, but maybe I should.”
“I hope you will,” said the man. “And if this messed-up cement helps you do that, that’s worth the cost of repairing it, so don’t worry about paying for it.” – Jan L. Hansen
How about you?
Are you refusing to hear the voice of Jesus? Are you coming up with reasons not to trust in Him? Don’t let your heart harden against His love for you. He died to pay for your sin so you could be saved and belong to Him. Don’t wait any longer—trust Jesus today! (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)
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