Scripture
The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” Jeremiah 9:13-14

Observation
What keeps us from living a life by the book, God’s book that is? His instructions are plain enough to read, and yet even those who have a bible memory card filled with gold stickers can consistently resist the simplest of God’s commands. Why don’t our lives line up with the Bible?

The answer is scar tissue. There are stubborn knots in our muscles that keep us from becoming all God wants us to be. The Bible calls it “stubbornness”, or the determination to go forward in the wrong way even when the right way is logically clear.

Application
I need to watch in my life that some of the well-reasoned arguments I have for persisting in the wrong direction are nothing more than stubbornness. Identifying stubbornness forces us into the physical therapy of the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to identify stubbornness for what it is and deal with it.

Prayer
Father, when I reflect through my life I see many times I have allowed you to contend with my stubborn nature. The result has been beautiful submission and a softness of spirit that has only helped me in life. I yield more of my life to you. Get the obstinacy out of me when it comes to doing your word. Amen.