With All Your Heart
With All Your Heart
There are several things that God instructs us to do with all of our hearts. In the Old Testament He commands us to love Him, to serve Him, and to obey Him with all of our hearts. It’s not a suggestion, it’s a command. (See Dt. 30:2, Dt. 10:12, Dt. 11:13, Josh 22:5, 1 Sam. 12:20, Dt. 6:5, Dt. 13:3.)
All?
All means all—wholly, completely, entirely, the entire thing. That means nothing is left out. No part is saved for something or someone else. You are not to save a piece of your heart to love your mother, your husband, your child, your dog, or your car. All of your heart goes to God first. [I believe He then gives us love for other people—-He gives it to us, it does not come directly from ourselves because that love is supposed to go to God alone.]
Heart?
What makes up our heart (other than the physical organ)? The heart includes the seat of our affections and passions, the seat of our understanding and the seat of our will. It pretty much encompasses most, if not all, of who we are on the inside.
New Testament
O.K., we are not under the Old Testament law anymore so we don’t technically have to “obey” or “serve” Him from those Old Testament verses but the command to love God is repeated several times in the New Testament. You could also look at it this way: you can tell if you are loving God (at least to some degree) if you are serving and obeying Him. (See Mt. 22:37, Mk 12:30, Lk 10:27.)
A Different Promise
Another thing God talks about in the Old Testament is about seeking Him with your whole heart. It isn’t put into the form of a command but rather into the form of a promise. If you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him. (See Jer 29:13, Dt. 4:29).
So what are you doing with all of your heart? Are you loving God with all of your heart or have you saved part of it for something else? Do you ever seek God with all of your heart or is your seeking half-hearted?
Check out my other posts on the heart: