Issue 955 – The Hardest – January 11, 2023
We have often been told two things about diamonds. Firstly, they are a girl’s best friend, and secondly, they are the world’s hardest substance. Are those statement’s true?
Diamonds may be pretty, but their being a girl’s best friend is pure hype. The concept that diamonds are the world’s hardest thing is equally false.
They are harder than the toughest known biological. The Darwin’s bark spider spins a ten times stronger web than kevlar, and a 500-gram strand of it would stretch to read around the globe. Tough, for sure, but no diamond.
There are several artificial materials tougher than diamonds. There are palladium-enriched glasses and highly sophisticated and specialized nanotubes, like buckypaper, that are much more scratch resistant than diamonds but far from my experience or understanding.
Two rare elements are more scratch resistant than diamonds. Wurtzite boron nitrate, a rare material in some volcanic deposits, is 18% harder. The hardest known naturally occurring matter is a form of graphite from meteorites known as Lonsdalite or Lonsdale diamond. It is chemically similar to diamonds but has a hexagonal structure and is reportedly 58% harder than diamonds.
I think there is something harder than any of these items, the human heart. Most people’s hearts are hard enough to resist the love of God, even if it means an eternity in torment.
Even Christians can have hardened hearts, particularly in the area of forgiveness. Despite having benefitted from the incredible forgiveness of the Lord, we can find forgiving difficult and will often nurse petty wounds and grudges. We receive the forgiveness that defies explanation yet are often stingy with giving it to others.
My friends, that should not be so. Jesus was clear on the subject of forgiveness.
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22
Jesus follows his teaching with a powerful parable about an unforgiving man (Matthew 18:23-35). It is well worth a read if you have time today.
Peter thought he was being extravagant in his forgiveness of seven times. The rabbis taught that three was the maximum, so seven must have seemed a wildly generous number to Peter.
Seventy-seven (or seventy times seven in some translations) is an astronomical number meant to represent a never-ending number. After all, if you have truly forgiven, you can’t count the same offence again.
That’s impossible because our hard hearts will not allow it. Yet, with Holy Spirit’s help, it can be done.
Take some time today and examine your own heart. Do you carry bitterness and unforgiveness? It’s time to let it go; call on Jesus to help.
Until next time, may all our hearts be softer.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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