Harder Than a Rock
O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
…Jeremiah 5:3
Noticing something of mine hanging out of the young ladies purse, I dared confront her about it before she went rushing out the door. Camp items were being kept in the back room awaiting the time to open the doors of the newly built camp. Hiring a woman to give me a hand in cleaning was great, but when I realized she was stealing from us, her job was terminated on the spot.
When I confronted her asking why she stole from us after we had been so good to her, she replied, “You have two of these; I have none so I took one. It sounded good to her. She played awfully dumb and even played the violin sad song to us, but to no avail. She saw, she wanted, and she took. Sound too familiar in today’s society.
Excuses she had and to her all of them made sense in her mind. It is easy to justify what we do. You may even believe what you did was not wrong. What does the Bible say about it? God calls sin, sin, and doesn’t chocolate coat it. My helper knew she was doing wrong, or she wouldn’t have hidden the items; she would have paraded them in front of me free of concern about consequences.
In rebellion, this woman puckered her lips tight almost like a draw string bag. She was mad, because she lost her job, but mostly because she was caught in the act. She did not want to receive correction and her face turned hard as rock.
Jeremiah says, Lord, thou has stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou has consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock;
Look at someone who is really mad, and notice how hard their faces become. Harden not your face or your heart dear friend. God has known what rebellion is since the days of Adam and Eve. Receive correction if needed, and return to Him!
