Tough Cookie

"...For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." (Matthew 13:14-15)

Calloused- having calluses; having skin made tough and thick through wear, toughened, emotionally hardened, unfeeling

How many of us can say that we have tough skin? A tough cookie? Life has dealt us an unfair hand of cards and we have stood up to it and nothing can get through to us anymore. People have hurt us too much in this life so instead of moving forward, we have become paralyzed and accepted the fact that we would rather live life alone than getting hurt again. I am sure that a lot of us are guilty of saying, "Never again."

But have we also unknowingly said "never again" to God? I know that for a long time I blamed God for all the bad things that happened in my life. My heart was so hard that there was no way I could ever understand the deep love He has for me. I wanted no one to come near and get close to me and definitely not a God who had created me only to put me through misery, or so I thought. Man, I was wrong. I had laid my heart on the line time and time again for people only to get rejected so then how could the God of the entire universe accept me and love me for who I am?

Jesus was vulnerable. Vulnerability is part of becoming Christlike. He has put everything on the line for us. Will you accept Him? He laid it all down on the cross and he just wants us to accept his love. To love him. Could it be that our deepest fear of not being loved could become our biggest triumph if we could just lay it down at the cross? After all, Jesus came to save us but also heal our broken hearts. The callouses we have on our heart are there to keep us from not getting hurt again. But there is a better way.

Let Jesus heal your heart. Ask him to give you a new heart. A heart transformed by the power of a loving Savior. "And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God."  (Ezekiel :19-20) Softening your heart often involves breaking the resistant parts... so if there is pain, continue to hang tight to Jesus. You are asking for your heart to feel again. He will carry you through the pain. Blessings!!

Jesus,
Thank you for dying for my sins but also coming to heal my wounds. I want to let you heal my heart, I don't want to be cold anymore. Renew in me a new spirit hungry for you. Amen.