The leather chair groans as you adjust for a consecutive time, the impatient ticking of the clock being the only sound to disturb the silence. Muted chatter is heard from behind the door, before it swings open and the doctor shuffles in with deep lines in their brow. You immediately know it's something serious. What could be wrong? Am I dying? All these questions circle your mind as you hold your breath for the bomb to finally be dropped.
"It's worse than we thought"
You feel your shoulders tense as you sit up with a rigid spine, feeling the pit of your stomach sink into the hollows of the earth.
"You need open heart surgery"
Wait what!
"You see your diagnosis is that you have a stone heart, over time it hardened and now it no longer functions as a healthy heart should, due to all the tumultuous strain it has been under. This is very detrimental to your health and it's within your best interest that we schedule this operation as soon as possible."
A stone heart? What could have caused this you wonder, as you recount all the years of your life up until now and try to figure out what was the cause. Here are some symptoms, however this isn't an exhaustive list:
- Unforgiveness
- Pride
- Selfishness
- Greed
- Bitterness
- Selfish Ambition
- Ego
- Obscene Idols
- Being self willed
- Not accepting forgiveness
- Anger
- Fear
- Lust
- Lies
- Manipulation
- Trying to be God
- Disobedience to God
- Remaining comfortable in sin
- Abusing God's grace and mercy
- That sin (yes that one)
- Jealousy
- Comparison
- Complaining
- Worrying
- Blocking out God's voice
- Spending less time in His presence