It's Saturday Night and I Think I got a Message?

It is after 8 pm Saturday evening and I am finishing up some touches on what I think is the message that God has given me for tomorrow. Like I do every week, I have been seeking God for His word for Sunday and I know that others have been praying for me as well.

Saturdays for a pastor are like no other day of the week. I have been doing Saturdays as a senior pastor now for 24 years and I still feel like a rookie. I never feel comfortable on Saturday. Even if I feel like God has given me a message earlier in the week, I am still praying and seeking the face of God all day Saturday questioning the Spirit of God whether this is the message He wants delivered on Sunday. And do you know, very few times do I deliver a message on Sunday that I receive before Saturday morning. Usually, it's between Saturday and Sunday morning that God by His Spirit will burn a message in my heart for Sunday.

I have had people say, "Thats crazy! Just get a sermon from a sermon book and preach it." But it's never that easy. The call of God to preach demands that "the preacher" seek the "mind of God" for the message that God wants delivered. I constantly remind myself that I am only the messenger. God gives me the message and as I deliver it, then He anoints me and those who receive it and His will is done. That's how it happens!

So what's the message for tomorrow morning? Well, so far God has been speaking to me about "the hardening of the heart." Believe it or not, this message like many started with God dealing with me about the condition of my own heart...my own hardness. As I searched the scriptures, I found the even the disciples in the midst of the miracles and teachings of Christ were said to have hearts that were hardened (Mark 6:52).

I am amazed at how easy it is today for us as Christians to become hardened in our hearts. Hebrews 3 tells us it happens "through the deceitfulness of sin." In other words, like the sun that slowly hardens the soil over time our heart becomes hard by our disobedience. God help us as Hebrews 3 reminds us several times to "hear your voice" (and obey) so that our hearts will not be hardened.

Believe me, there is much more that I will share tomorrow...that is if God permits me to do so!