From the Book of Sirach Chapter 2 verses 1-11

Of all of the verses I have come to enjoy within the Bible this is and always will be one of my favorites.

DUTIES TOWARD GOD

1)”My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials.

2)Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.

3)Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great.

4)Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient;

5)For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation,

6)Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him.

7)You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy, turn not away lest you fall.

8)You who fear the Lord, trust him, and your reward will not be lost.

9)You who fear the Lord, hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy.

10)Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed?   Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken?   Has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?

11)Compassionate and merciful is the Lord; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble.”

Jesus asks so little of us, yet it is difficult at times to accomplish what He impresses upon our hearts.   With Jesus it is all about the ‘heart’!   So important is the heart to Jesus that He speaks of the ‘hardened heart’.    What He is expressing to us is our lack of feeling to his heart and our lack of trust in His love.   The very love that hung so greivously on a cross, suffered for three hours, was denied numerous times, and still said, ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do’!    Yet, in all this the ‘flesh of the soul’ is inclined to doubt.   This is the tempting of Satan to deter a soul from the ‘love of God’!

In Mark Chapter 3 verse 5

Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “stretch out your hand.”  He stretched it out and his hand was  restored.

In Mark Chapter 7 verses 6-8

6)He said to them: “How accurately Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites when he wrote, ‘This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me.

7)Empty is the reverence they do me because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts.’

8)You disregard God’s commandment and cling to what is human tradition.”

Take notice that Jesus uses the term, ‘human tradition’.   Implying that we go through the motions of every day life without ‘feeling’.   Simply put: When Christ is in you and you have invited Jesus into your heart with sincereity, you feel His very presence in your daily life.   The ‘hardened heart’ does not experience Christ on this level.    Jesus Christ is a relationship waiting to happen.   For those who have not experience the ‘love of Christ’ He waits.  He is as real as you or I and feels as you and I feel.  So the sins, that I have spoken of before cut into the heart of Jesus when they are committed!   That is why Jesus is the Alpha and Omega!

In the book of Revelations Chapter 22 verses 12-16

12)”Remember, I am coming soon!   I bring with me the reward that will be given to each man as his conduct deserves. 13) I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End! 14)Happy are they who wash their robes so as to have free access to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates! 15)Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers, the fornicators and murders, the idol worshipers and all who love falsehood. “6)”It is I, Jesus, who have sent my angel to give you this testimony about the churches. I am the Root and offspring of David, the Morning Star shining bright.”