July 31, 2025

Why Some Hearts Stay Closed

For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Acts 28:27

Hearts don't close overnight. They close slowly, one rejection at a time. Paul quoted Isaiah to explain why some Jewish leaders couldn't accept the gospel even when presented with clear evidence. Their hearts had become calloused through years of resisting God's voice. What started as a small hardness had grown into a thick wall that blocked out spiritual truth.

Calluses form when something rubs against the same spot repeatedly. Just like physical calluses develop to protect sensitive skin, spiritual calluses develop to protect people from feeling convicted by God's truth. Every time someone hears the gospel and chooses to ignore it, a small layer of spiritual hardness forms over their heart. Over time, these layers build up until they can barely feel God's touch at all.

The process of heart hardening happens so gradually that people don't notice it's happening. They might remember a time when they felt moved by a sermon or touched by a worship song. Now those same things leave them cold. They've trained themselves to resist spiritual conviction so well that it's become automatic.

Pride is usually the root cause of a hardened heart. When people refuse to admit they need God, they shut down every avenue through which He might reach them. They close their eyes to evidence, plug their ears to truth, and harden their hearts to love. This isn't about intelligence or education. Some of the most brilliant people have the most closed hearts because they trust in their own understanding more than God's wisdom.

The scariest part about a hardened heart is that it can happen to anyone, including believers. We can become so familiar with spiritual things that we stop being moved by them. Regular church attendance, Bible reading, and Christian fellowship can become routine instead of transformative. When we stop examining our own hearts and assume we're spiritually healthy just because we know the right words and actions, we're in danger of developing our own calluses.

Godseekers, guard your heart with all diligence because everything you are flows from it. Don't let familiarity with spiritual things make you deaf to God's voice in your own life. Stay tender, stay teachable, and stay humble before the Lord. If you sense any areas of hardness in your heart, bring them to God immediately. He specializes in softening what sin has hardened and opening what pride has closed.

Prayer

Dear God, search my heart and show me any areas where I've become hard or closed to Your voice. Break up the callused places in my spirit and make me tender to Your touch again. Help me never to take Your truth for granted or become so familiar with spiritual things that I stop being transformed by them. Keep my heart soft and open to whatever You want to do in my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.