Softening Hard Hearts

When I was a kid my parents were big into gardening. We never could afford one but my dream was to own a Troybilt Horse tiller. Now that I’m advanced in years I’ve realized that dream and have owned about ten of them. Right now I have three in my shop and a few more in pieces. You see if I can find them for about $200 I buy them, work on them and sell them for about $400 (new ones cost $2000). It’s fun for me to bring an old piece of equipment back to life.

The easiest thing to work on are the engines. Those old tillers usually have gummed up carburetors that are easy enough to fix. The worst thing to deal with is taking off the wheel. They are usually rusted on and locked up tight. Sometimes you can get them off with an impact wrench and a little pressure. Sometimes you have to add a little heat. Sometimes you have to use a wheel puller which you have to be careful with as I have ruined a few wheels exerting more pressure than the metal can withstand. Other times you need to soak them in diesel. Right now I have one that’s been soaking in diesel for a year and I can finally get it to turn but not enough to get it off… yet.

Getting a sinner to turn from his sin and commit to Jesus Christ is kind of like getting those wheels off those old tillers. It always, always takes some effort. Sometimes it takes a little bit of effort and sometimes it takes a lot of effort. It kind of depends on how long that wheel has been stuck on that axel. Sometimes if you’re in a hurry and impatient you can ruin a wheel. You have to look for the signs and that takes experience. You might have to take that wheel puller off and let some diesel work on it for awhile.

God’s Word is kind of like diesel. Once you add diesel to the equation it’s working 24 hours a day… slowly and sometimes imperceptibly breaking down that rust.

I’ve known godly women who were married to scoundrels whose patience in well doing softened a heart that most thought would never soften.

The best kind of oil for penetrating an old hard heart is the oil that demonstrates the best of Christian living… a tender compassionate heart. The oil that forgives when one is not deserving of forgiveness. The oil that loves the unloveable. If you use that kind of oil and be patient and long suffering you might just be able to get that old wheel (sinner) to turn.