Create in me a clean heart, O Lord! (Psa.51:10). We are all aware of this verse. When King David had committed a sin with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan came and showed David his sin. At this David realized his sin and asks Elohim for forgiveness. He asks Elohim to cleanse his wicked heart and to let His, Elohim’s spirit rest within his heart.
The prophet Jeremiah declared that, ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ’ (Jer.17:9) Elohim saw that ‘the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’(Gen.6:5). The heart is the seat of our understanding and out of it proceed issues of life and death. The book of Proverbs is full of the mischief that a wicked person does. Elohim made man in his own image but man, in his vain imaginations, has become wicked. So, what makes a man’s heart wicked? Why does a man harden his heart and continue to sin? Here are some signs of a wicked and hardening heart.

No Conviction:  When a person begins to feel no conviction from sinning, the Spirit may not be as easily recognized next time. When we resist the conviction of the Spirit, it’s like a little tiny callous starts forming over our heart….and the more we grieve the Holy Spirit, the less we’ll feel His telling us to stop and repent of this and then confess it to Elohims. This is very dangerous for someone who’s not a Christian but does believe in Elohims, since, if they fall away “it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back” (2nd Pet 2:21).

No satisfaction: Whenever we start growing discontented with things in life, we start feeling restless, we want more.   Contentment does not come naturally, we learn it the hard way. Apostle Paul had to learn to be content in spite of  beatings, stoning’s, lashes, and imprisonment, he says “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Phil 4:11). If anyone had a reason to be discontented in life it was Paul but he says, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Phil.4:12) 

No Suffering: When we have been redeemed from sin but do not spread the good news to others, we show that we are really not affected by the moral condition of our fellow men. We should bring others into the kingdom. The psalmist wrote that “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”(Psa.119:71)  When we are no longer afflicted by this world’s evil we may be hardening our hearts. For the Psalmist, affliction was for the purpose of his learning Elohims’s statutes because “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word” (Psalm 119:67).

No Tears: In our lives we pray without tears, give without sacrifice, live without fasting, profession without persecution, and prosperity without being poor in spirit. If we are not shedding tears for those who are being persecuted, when our Christian life becomes a mere formality, we are hardening our hearts. We show a pride of some sort when we pray. Our attitude is that of the Pharisees. Elohims resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,(Jas.4:6). If we are full of pride, we are more like Satan because Satan’s pride caused him to rebel against Elohim and our hearts are wicked if we live a life of pride.

No Broken heart: The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (Psa.34:18) The phrase, “them that are of a broken heart,” occurs often in the Bible. It refers to a condition when a burden seems to be on the heart, and when the heart seems to be crushed by sin or sorrow; and it is designed to describe a consciousness of deep guilt, or the heaviest kind of affliction and trouble. When our guilt does not weigh us down, our heart is hardened. Elohim will cure a broken heart but not otherwise. 

No signs of love: One of the signs of the end times, as told by Messiah, in Matthew 24 is that the love of many would grow cold (Matt 24:12). For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (2Tim.3:2), “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of Elohim” (2.Tim 3:4). Instead of having a natural affection for others, they love possessions over people. That’s why the Bible teaches that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1Tim 6:10). Money’s not evil…loving it more than Elohim is!

Dishonoring Parents:  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy Elohim giveth thee (Ex. 20:12) We should remember that the Ten Commandments are for the whole earth. Elohim expects us to honor our parents, whether they’re living or not. If anyone dishonors their parents, even after they are dead, they are breaking this commandment. It is so important that Elohim makes it the first of the six commandments which govern our conduct towards our fellow men, as the first four are directed to Elohim.

 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jer 17:9) A corrupt heart is the worst enemy the fallen man can have; it is full of evil imaginations, - of deceit, of folly, and abomination, and its owner does not know not what is in him till it boils over. Elohim says through Jeremiah that only He can give us a heart of flesh and take out the heart of stone. A fleshly heart is more pliable and easier to penetrate, which is just what Elohim. Let us examine our hearts and if we finds sings of any of the above conditions it’s time to get on our knees and repent, ask for forgiveness, and find your satisfaction in Messiah.

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