Today's Reading:Exodus 9:8-35
"Pharaoh's Hard Heart"
Focus Verses: Exodus 9:12-17
12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses. 13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.
Insight:
The more Pharaoh resisted God, the harder his heart became. Every opportunity God gave Pharaoh to respond was also an opportunity to reject. So in a way, God was hardening Pharaoh's heart by giving him more chances to respond and surrender.
Rejecting God's sovereignty is rebellion. Rejecting God's grace is hardheartedness. Rejecting the truth for a lie is self-destructive.
Response and Action:
God is continually extending opportunities to acknowledge him and respond to him. I can soften my heart and surrender to God, or harden my heart and resist God’s grace. Because I believe that God is God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God has offered life and salvation, I want to be as responsive to God as possible.
O God, give me the eyes to see and believe in you. Give me a heart that is soft and responsive to your grace. Give me a mind that delights in your will. Give me a desire to walk in your ways. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 6:2-3
"...if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!"
New Testament for Today: Romans 1:20
20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
In Context: Romans 1:18-32
Resources:
Renovation of the Heart
by Dallas Willard
