"Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive
and eyes to see and ears to hear to this very day."
and eyes to see and ears to hear to this very day."
Deuteronomy 29:4
Two men were talking on the job. One said to the Christian, "You know, I hear you Christians talking about Jesus dying on the cross for your sins. It just doesn't make sense to me. How can a man who lived two thousand years ago die for you? He didn't know you, and you couldn't know Him." The Christian said, "Oh, but I do know Him, and He knows me. I know Him by faith, and He knows me through the greatest love that I have ever experienced." Then, the other man said, "See. That's what I'm talking about. I just don't understand that."
No man can understand the things of God until the Lord does something in his heart. Some theologians refer to it as preceding grace. It's grace that goes before conversion. It has been referred to as prevenient grace. Lydia, in the New Testament, was an illustration of grace that precedes conversion. "The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul" (Acts 16:14). She heard the gospel and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Before her conversion, the Lord gave her a "heart to heed." After that she was converted and baptized.
As we pray for others who don't understand the gospel of Christ, let us ask the Lord to give them a heart to hear and heed the good news. Knowing that the Lord always gives us a choice to believe in Christ, we must first hear and understand the message. After we are converted, may God continue to give us a heart to understand as we read the Bible, that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We need a heart to understand.
