Dave’s Monday Blast – March 1, 2020
Jeremiah 24:7 says: “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” Note that Jeremiah references the Whole Heart. In Hebrew there is no distinction between the head and the heart: these two organs are connective tissue in every sense. You see, our God wants all of us. He is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14). He gave up everything for us (Philippians 2:16), and it is our reasonable service to do the same for Him (Romans 12:1). To that end…He has given us a tender, pliable, whole heart capable of responding to His promptings. God designed our hearts to be “in sync” with His, to beat as one. He designed our minds to think thoughts.
I know we would all admit that over the course of our lives we permit the wrong things to reside at the epicenter of our lives; it is as if we believe we can peacefully exist with divided loyalties. In the pursuit of other passions, our hearts can become hard; even within the context of Christianity there is temptation to be led by that which is worldly, that will never bring satisfaction. Fortunately, because God desires to give us a heart that is designed to run hard after Him, we can live as children of God, with hearts that are beating for Him and with minds that are “stayed on Him.”
We were made to live with the knowledge of God’s love for us in every season. Scripture says: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalms 34:8) Tasting and seeing are very tangible ways for us to live in constant communion with our God. When we experience His presence through His Word, and experience His faithfulness through His ways, we KNOW how much He loves us. He will never rest until the entirety of our heart is His. While we know He is jealous for our love we also know there is no limit to His sacrifices for us.
Today I encourage you to give your whole heart to Him. Focus your thoughts on Him. Center your life around relationship with Him. Root and ground yourself in His unceasing love and faithfulness. May your life be forever changed as you set your eyes on the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2).
We will spend some time next week exploring what it means to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”
A few things to consider:
1. Meditate on the truth that you were made for relationship with God. (Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:3)
2. What are you valuing above relationship with your heavenly Father? What are you spending all your energy on? What’s truly your greatest desire?
3. Tell God anything that you have valued above relationship with Him.
