Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
God is looking for disciples whose hearts are wholly devoted to Him.
Too often in the modern church, we convert people to the name of Christ and neglect making wholly devoted disciples of Jesus.
Too often we start strong and finish poorly, as our hearts are woo-ed by other interests and desires.
Too often we find Christians sitting in church services but whose hearts are somewhere else because they are separated from their first love.
God wants people whose hearts are wholly devoted to Him.
And he tells us what you can expect IF you give your heart completely over to Him in the verses preceding this one (1 Kings 8:57-60):
1. LIVE IN GOD’S REST
56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel
A fully committed heart to God enables you to live in the REST of God. A divided heart creates a tired, weary life. It is unnecessarily complex. Jesus said “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
2. KNOW GOD’S PRESENCE IS WITH YOU
57 May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us
If your heart is fully committed to someone or something, you become very attentive to them / it. So it is with God. When we wholly devote our affections and desires to Him, we become acutely aware of His presence. And that He will never leave or forsake us.
3. SO THAT ALL MAY KNOW
60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else.
The Lord desires a people in the earth that He can point to as those that reflect the character of God in creation. A people wholly devoted to God is God’s advertisement to rest of His creation – I love you and want you to call my own! Harvest happens with wholly devoted hearts.
PRAYER: Father, I recommit my heart and my way to you. I love you and ask you to take all of me for your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.