“Do not delay your conversion by clinging to pride”. – St. Jerome
We’ve talked about pride in several other posts this Lent and here we are again. Learning yet another way that our pride affects our relationship with God.
Pride delays conversion.
Psalm 95:7-8 – If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart.
So, where in your life today may you be hearing God’s voice?
What might you gain by listening?
And what might we miss by ignoring it?
If I’m being honest with myself, I suppose I hear his voice every single day in one way or another. But I just now realized…I harden my heart.
I wait for a ‘better time’ to think about it (whatever it may be at the time), or to make a change or take steps.
I rely on myself, or things in my life, to get me through the challenges of my day rather than stopping, even for a moment, to acknowledge those feelings and God’s presence.
Today’s passage teaches that when God’s voice touches something inside of us, our hearts often resist, especially if it touches something uncomfortable.
So after reading this I wonder…
Each time those moments arise and we feel that discomfort, is that’s God’s voice?
Is that Him calling out to us? Wanting us to pause?
Maybe, in those moments, He’s asking us to turn to him…to remember Him, to rely on Him.
And maybe we avoid those feelings because of our own pride?
But, here’s what I think…
I think we don’t have to hide the things that call each of us away from Him.
He already knows.
His voice isn’t judging. It’s to remind us that He sees us, every part of us…
And He loves us anyway.
He will guide us through whatever might be holding us back.
So today, rather than waiting for a ‘better time’…or delaying our own conversion, what if we crack open our hearts and let His mercy flow in?
My prayer today comes straight from the passage:
Lord, give me a soft heart today – ready to listen, ready to turn, ready to be changed. Amen.
