Is today the day you hear his voice, or harden your heart?

Is today the day you hear his voice or harden your heart?

We always hear the voice of God, but most times do not realize who is calling.  The old adage that says listen to the little man on your shoulder to do what is needed in any instance of doubt.  Whoever coined those words didn’t realize somewhere beyond their understanding sits an unseen entity that could be God.  In listening to this suggestion we actually are in touch with the Spirit who may be guiding our next move.

Believe it or not, the Lord actually convicts our next move that isn’t in sync with what God is opening our good sense an opportunity to reach into a period of holiness.  But, he is there to gather us into his graces and will not leave unless our will dictates otherwise.  Free will is the greatest gift God has endowed us with to accept him with eagerness and without restrictions to the path of spiritual understanding.

The words of the title to this reflection are an immense invitation to seek and find the unending grace that only a loving God is able to hand us.  Like a gourmet dinner when your mouth begins watering for a delicacy never tasted before so it is when God holds the strings of a melodious instrument before us which we must grasp before this treasure slips away.  Hearing the sounds from a violin can ease the tremors of anger and bitterness, so the pleasure of finding the music of God’s voice will salve the hardness of our hearts.

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.  “Oh, that today you would hear his voice; Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert.  There your ancestors tested me; they tried me though they had seen my works.”  (Psalm 95: 8 - 9).

Words that should soften the hardest of hearts, a hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God, and ours as well.  Keep these words forever in our minds as well as our hearts. We always need God’s Word as a sustenance to remind us of his never-ending love and compassionate forgiveness that always seeks our soul.

Ralph B. Hathaway