THURSDAY October 2, 2025

Do You Have a Harden Heart?

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’
So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Hebrews 3:7-11

As we continue our study in the book of Hebrews, we gain understanding of how Christ becomes our rest. Although Christ has attained rest for us by securing our salvation, so many people reject Him in unbelief. In verses 7-8, there is an important exhortation for us to heed: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts....”

Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is exhorting Jewish Christians who were in danger of having a hardened heart through their unbelief. They were not holding fast to faith in Jesus Christ. They were failing to enter into the rest He had given them through His finished work on the Cross. They started to turn back to the ceremonial laws of God that were given to God’s people in the Old Testament, such as circumcision.

Paul began to remind the Hebrew believers that, as a part of the house of Israel, they had a rebellious past. God’s people journeyed in the wilderness and were on the brink of entering the Promised Land, but their unbelief hindered them. As they rebelled, God’s people missed the opportunity to enjoy the place provided for them––a place of rest––a land of milk and honey.

Instead, unbelief, hardened hearts and rebellion sent them back into the wilderness for 40 years. What were the consequences of their sin? They wandered in the wilderness until all their bones were scattered (Numbers 12-14). The only people who entered the Promised Land were Joshua and Caleb and everyone under the age of twenty (Numbers 32:11).

Guard your heart! Trials and suffering can cause you to have a hardened heart of unbelief. Trust the Lord and enter into His rest.

All unbelief is the belief of a lie.
~Horatius Bonar~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!