Your Promise Won’t Work with a Hard Heart
- Bishop Keith Butler
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:15-19)
Hebrews explained that even though the people made it out of Egypt, they didn’t allow Egypt to come out of them. Although they saw the power of God operating daily, they still doubted Him. The writer of Hebrews warned Christians, “Don’t be like them.” How? What do we need to do to make sure we are following? Don’t harden your heart.
The writer of Hebrews gives us some key points of what it means not to have a hard heart.
1. Hear Him - God is always speaking, but we aren’t always listening. Reread the text: Today, if ye will hear His voice… That’s a present-tense invitation to respond—not someday, or when it’s convenient. Today, God is speaking. The Israelites heard God, but their hearts were already hardened. They wanted a Savior, but not a Shepherd. They wanted rescue, but not change. Hardness of heart isn’t about not hearing—it’s about refusing to respond.
2. Lean into the voices of faith. Hebrews provides the example of Caleb and Joshua as two individuals who spoke faith while the crowd shouted fear. Faith often speaks with quiet confidence, whereas fear holds a megaphone and screams. Be careful who you agree with. The loudest voices aren’t necessarily the correct ones.
3. There are always consequences, both positive and negative. Listening to and having faith in God will always yield powerful outcomes; however, refusing to listen and walking in unbelief will cause you to miss out on what God has planned.
Practical Application
Unbelief isn’t merely a passive stance; it’s a thief of the life God intended for you to lead. Ask yourself, “Have I let fearful voices around me silence my faith-filled response?” Decide to follow God fully today. Choose to be a Joshua and a Caleb.
