An Undivided Heart

Every year at the church there are young people who graduate from high school and enter the work place, go to college, or join the military.  Although there is a great deal of excitement it can also become a four-year sabbatical from Christ and His church.  This pattern has greatly concerned me, yet many young people have watched their parents have a different or inconsistent life in their daily life compared to church life.  I continue to encourage these young people to declare their loyalty to Jesus Christ early.  Whenever it becomes a guessing game about the One we serve in our lives it becomes very difficult to reestablish at a later time, if we ever do.  The lack of total surrender to Jesus Christ has caused much damage and confusion to the work of God in the world and in the church.

Throughout Scripture, defeat could always be found when God's people followed Him with a mediocre spirit.  We call this half-hearted Christianity today, although the term would appear to be an oxymoron.  The success of kings and nations always stemmed from an undivided heart to know God and exercise obedience to Him alone.  More kings lived and failed with divided hearts that entertained other gods or philosophies that contradicted God's words.  It is amazing how we stand in worship with our hands extended waiting for God to pour out His blessing upon those who are not sold out for His glory.  I am resolved that God have every bit of me and that His greatness would be made known through the little that I have to offer Him.  I want to capitalize on every transaction of words and deeds in order that there is never a question about who my Savior and Master really is!

The following verses are precious and worth underlining, memorizing, or writing on a note card as a reminder to us all this upcoming year that God's desire is an undivided heart of devotion!

 Psalm 86:11 "Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Ezekiel 11:19 "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; 

I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."

1 Corinthians 7:35 "I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that 

you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord."