People have heart attacks because over many years, their arteries harden. It takes time. And the same’s true when we allow our hearts to harden against God. It doesn’t happen overnight … takes time. But Jesus … Jesus has a sure fire way to cure that. It happens in an instant. It’s called a change of heart.   The Hardening of the Heart Hey, great to be with you again today. And today we are continuing in our series about having a powerful deep relationship with Jesus. The series is called “There’s a Knock at the Door.” Now, last weekend I was really blessed to have a great break. I love doing what I do; I really love being able to spend these few minutes with you on the programme each week but you know something, I really love having a rest. I like that break over the weekend. You know, you work hard all week – at least I do – generally they are long hours. And although when you love doing what you do (it doesn’t feel like work) come the end of the week, have to tell ya, I’m ready for a rest. And one of the highlights of my weekend is waking up on Saturday morning and planning a date with my beautiful wife. Now that our kids have grown up we are able to just go out on a little date on a Saturday morning to a coffee shop – mostly it’s only toast and coffee. But it’s something we do for us. We chat, we read the paper, we just spend time together. I’d have to say, it’s the most special time of the week for me. But before you get the idea that we are a perfect couple, with a perfect marriage, let me tell you, I am not a perfect husband – as much as I’d like to be. And sometimes, Jacqui isn’t the perfect wife. I can be such an insensitive clod sometimes and that can bruise Jacqui’s feelings. And yet, even though we are two imperfect people – sure we are trying to honour God; sure we are doing our best to love each other – but despite our imperfections, we love each other and our relationship is intact and hopefully growing deeper and deeper with the passing years. So how is that? How is it that two imperfect people can grow in their relationship? Well, here’s what I try to do in our marriage: whenever I get it wrong; whenever I’m insensitive or I make a mistake or I don’t take Jacqui’s feelings into account, whatever it is, that kind of cuts me to the quick. When I realise I’ve done wrong – and hopefully I’m making fewer mistakes these days than I was say five years ago – but when I realise I’ve made a mistake, I say "Sorry" and I try to mend my ways. Now saying "sorry" isn’t something that comes naturally to me and learning to say "sorry" has been one of the hardest things for me to do in my life, because "sorry" is about humbling yourself. "Sorry" is about admitting that you have made a mistake. "Sorry" is about taking the first step to mend a relationship and yet, as we live our lives together, Jacqui and I, best we can, making mistakes, saying "sorry", pulling each other closer, the relationship grows. If on the other hand we just made mistakes and never ever said "sorry", never apologised, never had a softening and a changing of heart, tell you what, the relationship would pull further and further and further apart. And that’s how divorce happens! Because hearts grow first lukewarm, then eventually hard and cold and it takes time – but before you know it, there’s no love there anymore; there no relationship there anymore. Now the reason I have shared that with you today, is that it’s a powerful metaphor, if you will, or a parallel, in understanding the relationship between God and ourselves. Last week on the programme we spent some time understanding this concept of Jesus knocking at the door of our hearts. He loves us more than a man or a woman can ever love one another. He loves us with a powerful, tender, sacrificial love and yet you and I, whilst once we may have been on fire for Him, have this ability to grow lukewarm in our relationship with Him. Let’s just take another look at what He has to say about that: Revelation chapter 3, beginning at verse 15. Jesus says: Look, I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I have need of nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor and blind, and naked. Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice, open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself have conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. As I said, we have spent quite a bit of time taking a look at what Jesus is saying to us through that passage, but the bit that I would like to unpack this week on the programme is the bit about repentance. Because, to tell you the truth, when I first became a Christian – almost twenty years ago now – I remember those Christians talking about repentance. And can I be perfectly honest with you here? I thought to myself, ‘What! I mean, it sounds like a word from the 1950s. It’s a kind of religious, moralising kind of word; it’s an old fashioned concept being spouted by an out of date irrelevant church. Repentance? Oh, give me a break!’ Not sure how you react to the word but me, every time I still hear it today, it has that kind of feeling of a "religiousy" kind of word to me. And yet its meaning is anything but that. Can I go back to what I shared with you about Jacqui and myself earlier? In our imperfection, the only way we keep our marriage relationship together; the only way we keep growing in our love for one another; the only way we get to look forward to our special date on Saturday mornings and being together, is constantly to repent. Constantly to admit that we have done wrong; to admit we gave failed; to apologise to one another; to mend our ways. And that right there is exactly what repentance is. And so when Jesus is calling those of us whose hearts have grown lukewarm towards Him; those of us who have become distracted with all the trinkets and baubles this world dangles before us, what is it He says? What does He call you and me to do? He is saying to us, right here and right now, “Be earnest therefore, and repent.” Literal meaning of that original word for repent, here it is, word for word from my Greek lexicon: ... to change one’s mind for better; heartily to amend with the abhorrence of one’s past sins. In other words, to get a grip; to realise that what we are doing is wrong; to have the guts to admit that to ourselves and having had that change of heart, to change what it is that we are doing. Now isn’t that exactly what I have just described in our marriage relationship before? Isn’t that what keeps a marriage together? Absolutely, it is! So ‘repenting’ isn’t some old fashioned religious word, it’s one of the most – in fact, let me say this – it’s the single most important thing in maintaining healthy relationships and growing strong relationships. And the thing I love, or one of the things I love most about Jesus is, He doesn’t want us to be religious with Him; He doesn’t want us to go through the motions with Him. He wants a relationship; He wants to fellowship with us. He wants to come in and have a meal with us. And s...

Released on 7 Feb 2021