They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: “ ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

A picture of a man standing guard, covered in beautiful armor, appears in my mind. This man looks to be somewhat normal, however he is standing by a wall. He is standing very straight; he doesn’t move much. Upon closer inspection I find that there are cables behind him attached to the armor. They are holding the armor up. And I hear cringing and painful sighs from inside the armor.

I call out and say, “Hey soldier, are you doing alright? Do you need some help?” From inside the armor, a voice wincing with pain, says, “I am jjjjust fffffine, thank you.” Now I notice that blood has been pooling on the floor. I decide to take off the armor. The man is badly wounded. The armor was not meant to be used, but to be on display. The man was hiding his injuries by wearing the armor.

I take the man to be medically treated for his wounds, but all the way he is angry, he yells at me, and tells me he is just fine. I know he is not, because he had a weak pulse and lost a lot of blood. After treatment, the doctor comes to me and tells me, “If he had stayed in that armor much longer he would have died.”

Spiritually, this is the type of person Paul is describing here when he quotes Jesus quoting the prophets, saying, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

If we pretend that we are in good relationship with God, healthy in our spiritual life, when we are really badly injured, is this not denial? When someone in the person of Jesus or his followers comes to try and help us, but we reject his help and become angry, are we not just as pathetic as this injured man?

For much of my life, I have hidden my wounds and scars from others. I have pretended I am OK in comparison to others, ignoring my need for a touch from the heart healer, Jesus. I came to a point where I decided: NO MORE. Join me, my friends, in living life with a master heart physician on hand, giving him full ability to heal us whenever we need it.

Lord, you know the pitiful condition of my heart without you. Please help me to trust you to heal me each day, and place me on the path to righteousness, where you have good works prepared in advance for me to do. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬)