Exodus Chapter 9

7 Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.

12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.

34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.

35 So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

This is about listening to God, choosing to hear what He has to say and obeying.

Pharaoh was given the choice after each plague to let the Israelites go or to keep them as slaves in Egypt. Each time he refused to listen to God, kept his eyes and mind firmly closed to the possibility that God was there and that He really was speaking through Moses and Aaron and wanted His people to be free to go worship him. After the sixth plague, the plague of boils, God let Pharaoh have his own way and Pharaoh's heart became hardened, permanently. After the seventh plague, the plague of hail, Pharaoh initially changed his mind, accepted that he and his people were wrong and agreed to let the Israelites go. But as soon as the hailstorms stopped, Pharaoh went back on his word and refused to let the people go.

My eldest son has said that whilst he believes in God, he has time to think about Jesus and becoming a Christian. But what if he is run over by a bus tomorrow? What if eventually, after so long in waiting for the right moment, the right time, when he has finished partying, having a good time, having fun, and wants to settle down, it is too late and he no longer hears the voice of God prompting Him, reminding him, asking him? What if he leaves it, like Pharaoh, until his heart has become permanently hardened? And what about my other children, my daughter and my other boys? There is such a real risk that they may never, ever accept Christ.

There are so many people in the world in exactly the same position. Those who have heard the gospel but choose to wait….. But what excuse could you possibly give on Judgment Day if you had already been given the Good News and ignored it? We will each be judged on the basis of the knowledge we have.

I need to pray more often for my children, my parents, my brothers and their families, because we are living in the End Days, and one day, it may well be too late for each one of them. What if my prayers are the one thing that could open their hearts? I have a duty to pray and a calling, and yet I let so much get in the way of this, citing work, and all sorts as reasons why I will pray when I've just done this, or that, or the other.