Soften Your Heart

The Pharisees often looked for any opportunity to criticize Jesus even in the midst of Jesus performing miracles. In this scripture the Pharisees demanded that Jesus perform a miraculous sign. The verse is explicit that the Pharisees were testing Jesus. The bible often warns against testing God:

“You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah” (Deuteronomy 6:16); “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God’” (Matthew 4:7).

Jesus sighs deep in His spirit upon hearing the Pharisees’ demand. Jesus knew the Pharisees' hearts. He understood that no miracle would have satisfied them. They had already seen and heard all of the miracles that Jesus had performed. After witnessing these prior miracles, they already had enough evidence to show that Jesus was who He claimed to be. However, their hearts had become hardened and were not able to accept Jesus as the Son of God.

It is sometimes easy to miss when our own hearts are hardened. If we are truly living our lives the way Jesus calls us to, our hearts should stay open and softened towards the things of God. Jesus’ biggest call for our lives is to love people. If we have a hardened heart towards people, we will never be able to see them the way God sees them. We might think that poverty is a sign of laziness and that helping the homeless only enables them. Jesus did not call us only to love a certain category of people. He didn’t put preconditions on the status of a person that would qualify. He simply said love people.

When your heart is hardened you are not able to fully experience God. You can block the Holy Spirit from moving freely within your own life. Keeping your heart open will enable you to let God shift your perspective.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please help to soften my heart. I want to be open to accept Your calling on my life. Help to shift my perspective and to see people the way You see them. Please keep my mind focused on Your Kingdom and Your will. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.