Have any idea what the hardest substance known to man is? Me either until I heard it. I knew it was a diamond, but not just any old diamond. It’s an aggregated diamond nanorod. You don’t just find those lying around anywhere. They have to be produced. Couple of years back my family went to the diamond mine in Murfreesboro, AR. Pretty much all we took away was a cold, wet rear, a hungry gut, & a good time. Apparently regular diamonds aren’t just lying around either! A German physicist came up with the procedure to produce the aggregated diamond nanorods & they have been known to cut steel.
While diamonds are among the hardest substances, another carbon based element is the softest: graphite. It can literally be crumbled in your hand. It can be paper thin & a child can crush the rock. Both carbon based, yet one is the hardest & the other the softest.
While a student in art class, we used to make art works of pottery. While not my favorite medium, I’ll have to say it was enjoyable ‘throwing’ a pot & molding something useful and artistic with your bare hands. Clay can be very soft & malleable, but left to the elements becomes rock hard. We would wet the clay, if a little stiff, & kneed it to make it useable. When it got too hard to kneed, we simply threw the clay into a vat of moist, stinky clay called, ‘grog.’ Beyond that, if it couldn’t be re moistened, it had to be discarded.
In my life & ministry I’ve come to understand that the hardest & softest thing known to man is really the human heart! It can be capable of the most heinous atrocities or the most divine acts of kindness. I’ve seen burly men do some incredibly kind deeds. I’ve seen small children, seemingly innocent; perpetrate actions that would make a demon smile. If you’re honest, you’ll have to admit that your own heart has led you to heights of joy & actions of angelic nature & the same heart on other occasions has produced the most vile, wicked thoughts or deeds. It pretty much lies within what’s motivating & directing us.
This world is hard. No doubt about it. If you simply watch the news or read the headlines you can get hurt & hardened. I can’t begin to explain why a man would walk into a nursing home & open fire on innocents. Or why a deranged man would come forward in a worship service & open fire killing those around him. Why would a mother drown her children? How can a man torture & abuse an innocent child? Perhaps the heart is hard as a rock. The elements of sin have weathered & crusted it.
Sadly, we’re all capable of great evil. Just depends on who is directing. Never had heart problems but friends & relatives have had open heart surgery. Doctors went into the chest cavity & repaired or replaced a damaged heart. That’s pretty much what we need spiritually. A new heart. When we find our heart hardened, it’s time to call in ‘The Great Physician.’ When we call out to God for help & healing, he does a true work of heart.
“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20 NLT
Life can really weigh down on you. Just as our physical hearts can become diseased, weak & sickened, so it is with our spirits. Don’t plow ahead stubbornly, sickened & weak. Call out to the Father.
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Dave Jackson-Campus Minister djackson@absc.org
Cell: 870-217-9376 Dave’s Desk - http://bcmasunewport.blogspot.com
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