Let's face it. By nature most of us choose the path of least resistance, especially when our personal comfort zones are threatened. Our tendency to pretend that the spiritual emptiness and vacuum is not there, to blame somebody else when things go wrong, or to act spiritual hoping others buy into our pretence, are all a fact to how a lot of us are living in self-delusion.
However, in the realm of personal spiritual integrity, such approaches just don't work. In this area of life which is at the core of our very being, the centre of who we are, there is no other way to stay on target spiritually but to be courageously honest about who we are and where we fall short.
Tragically, some of us who are Christians, right now, are opting to live in self-delusion. Because this is true, I believe there is a huge need for the twenty-first century Christians to experience personal reformation - revival, if you please. But it will never take place - it cannot take place - until we are willing to acknowledge our spiritual need.
Perhaps we need to come to the understanding that personal reformation can begin once we find the courage to admit we are spiritually needy. Or saying this same truth another way: finding the courage to admit we are needy is the gateway back to our spiritual future.
"So as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear His voice (meaning the voice of the Lord), do not harden your hearts" (Heb.3:7).
Interestingly, this verse is a direct quote from Psalm 95:8, words attributed to none other than (guess who?) king David - this same David whose heart was hardened for a period of time! Since David knew experientially the serious consequences of harbouring a hardened heart, I believe he is speaking with incredible intensity here.
"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." The writer of Hebrew picked up on this a little later in the same passage - "See to it brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God...that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (v 12-13).
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