It Takes A Tender Heart

April 21

There is hope for all men to be saved because Jesus has come to set all men free from bondage to sin. How can someone who is caught in the jaws of the basest element of his own nature even begin to hope there is pardon available for him? He can not only hope, he can be confident that salvation is available for him because the Word says so.

In I Timothy 2:3, 4, Paul says to his young protégé, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who wills that all men be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This is possible, Paul goes on to say, not because a man is worthy but because, “…the Man Christ Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all…” I Timothy 2:5, 6.

The price Jesus paid covers all the sins of everyone who has ever transgressed the law to any degree. Whether his infraction is small or great, it is under the shed blood of the Lord who paid the only price that can satisfy the just requirement of our Holy God. The Lord is available to every man who reaches out to Him, but a man’s heart may become callous. If he declines the gracious wooing of the Savior often enough, he becomes totally insensitive to it, for his heart is no longer tender toward the things of Christ.

We can allow ourselves to become inured to the Lord’s tug upon our hearts so the prophet admonishes in Isaiah 55:6, 7, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near…let the wicked man forsake his evil thoughts and actions and turn to the Lord who will have mercy on him, for God will freely pardon him.” Because Jesus has come to set all men free from sin, His amazing gift is for all. But a cold, hard, bitter sinner rarely senses the love that woos him. It takes a tender heart to receive salvation.