When I go for my morning walk, I pass a building with an awning covering the sidewalk. Rain water pouring off the awning onto the concrete bellow has worn a shallow grove into the pavement. As the years go on, the grove will get deeper. Anyone who has visited the Grand Canyon or Wisconsin Dells has seen how water can dramatically wear away stone. It seems strange that something as soft as water can wear away hard rock.

Many years ago, an Egyptian monk named Abba Poemen (translated: Father Shepherd) observed this phenomenon and said: “So it is with the word of God; it is soft, and our heart is hard, but those who hear the word of God often, open their hearts to the fear of God.”

That’s a fascinating comment. I have read or heard a number of stories where people have been changed by reading something in the Bible. That sometimes gives the impression that God always brings about sudden dramatic change in people, but I suspect it’s more frequently like the slow drip of rain on a rock. It takes time.

That’s why Abba Poemen spoke of hearing the word of God often. The repetition of Scripture reading is necessary for it to wear away our hardness of heart. When I’m a reader at church, I practice the lessons aloud every day for a week. It gets into my hard head better that way. Meditating on just a few verse every day can be a help to your spirit.

Let the word of God soften you up.

Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne