HEBREWS 3:13

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

TO PONDER:

Have you ever felt like you are talking to a wall when trying to explain your position? That the person in front of you doesn't seem to be listening. Maybe even after a time, you have blurted out in frustration, "You are just so stubborn." Or maybe you are the person that those words have been spoken to!

Stubborn people are unbending and unyielding. They insist on their own way and won't admit they have it wrong. They don't respond well to input, they resist change and can become impossible or infuriating to deal with. Their stubbornness isolates them from others...it can also isolate them from God. Proverbs 28:14 warns us that the "stubborn are headed for serious trouble."

Throughout the Bible, God refers to his people as a stiff-necked and rebellious people. If you have ever had a stiff neck, you will know that your whole body has to go in the direction of where the neck is facing. Stiff necked because they refuse to listen to God, they refuse to turn from their own ways and their own ideas to walking the way that God promises brings life. Stubbornness blocks the world of God from taking shape in our life. Where might your stubbornness be robbing you of life? In many respects, stubbornness is simply another form of idolatry...it is the worship of your own ideas or thoughts! Sadly, that stubbornness often leads to rebellion against God.

That's why Christian community is a gift! That's why God unites us with brothers and sisters in Christ in community. We need each other to lovingly correct, to wisely point out things in our lives that may be leading us down a path that isolates us from others and especially from God. We need others to show us, guide us, gently push us in the ways of God that lead to life, so we don't become hard hearted, stiff-necked, stubborn. Who is God putting around you that you have not been listening to? Who has God placed in your life that loves you enough to hold you accountable? Who has God been using to try and encourage you in the way that leads to life? And to whom might you be that person that God uses to soften a stubborn person's heart today?

PRAYER:

Jesus, thank you for the gift of Christian community. Help me to receive the counsel and encouragement of my Church family and to be an encouragement to them in their walk with you. Amen.