Hard or Soft Heart?

Mark 3:5a, “And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”

In 2021 the leading cause of death in the United States was heart disease. According to the data 695,547 people died from heart disease. Many Americans face life each day with heart problems. Their problems stem from poor genetics, poor diet or a combination of both. As a result their life expectancy is cut short and their quality of life is miserably reduced. There is another kind of heart issue that can have an even more detrimental impact on our lives than heart disease. People can struggle with a spiritual heart problem which can manifest itself as hard heartedness. A person who struggles with the spiritual problem of hard heartedness will be resistant to the things of God and to God’s Son Jesus Christ. They will be hard toward the Bible and the Church. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus was confronted by some very religious people who possessed a hard heart. These religious people questioned Jesus with regard to why, in their opinion, He was violating the Sabbath. However, Jesus knew their heart. Scripture teaches us that Jesus does know our hearts. We read in Revelation 2:23 that Jesus explains that He is the the One “who searches mind and heart.” Jesus knows if our heart is hard or soft. He knows if our heart is truthful or deceptive. He knows if our heart is proud or humble. Mark describes Jesus' response in Mark 3:5a, “And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” He could see right through the religious people's questions. He knew they had a hard heart. A person with a hard heart will never be able to experience all that God could possibly give them until they humble themselves before God and receive Christ as their Savior. Physical heart disease can impact our lives today. However, spiritual heart problems can have eternal consequences. What does Jesus see when He examines your heart? I hope He sees a soft heart toward the things of God.