The Lord expresses fantastic patience, never wanting anyone to perish. Way more than I show for others. But his patience for those who claim to know and follow him depends to a certain degree upon ourselves.

They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord.

So the Lord spoke through Zechariah his prophet to the Jews in captivity. We don’t like to think about it, but it’s possible by our actions to close the ears of the Lord. I possess the ability to bake my attitude towards God diamond-hard.

Much of popular thinking holds the Lord as totally gracious, glossing over our foibles, slights, hatreds and sin. As long as we don’t kill anyone, we’re good. But such a god exists only in the uninformed mind.

The God of the Scriptures (indeed the only God who exists) looks to knead our hearts into softness. If I let him break the crust by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through his words—and if I act upon them—then the Lord will hear me when I call.

I need to tap on my heart. If there’s no give, then something’s wrong. The hardness and luster of a diamond makes for beautiful jewelry, but unyielding cynicism is the wrong quality for a heart tuned to the Lord.

Zechariah 7 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Edgar Soto