The Whole Heart

by W.H. Stewart, Glasgow, U.K. | Category: General | Sept 1984

"Blessed (or happy) are they that... seek Him (the Lord) with the whole heart" (Ps. 119:2). We do not know the writer of the psalm or whether he knew the Lord's promise as contained in Jeremiah 29:13: "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart". He did know that the person who sought the Lord must be in earnest about it if he wanted to find the Lord. So he goes on to say in verse 10 of the psalm, "With my whole heart have I sought Thee: 0 let me not wander from Thy commandments." He then asks God for understanding so that he might keep God's laws, and he promises God, "I shall observe it (Thy law) with my whole heart." This attitude of heart toward the Lord affected his prayer life for in verse 145 he says, "I have called with my whole heart; answer me, 0 LORD." This should be a lesson to us, for not too many wish to be involved these days in the Lord's things. They prefer to remain on the fringe and partake of the benefits of the Lord without partaking in the responsibilities. Half-hearted service it might be termed.

In Proverbs 23:26 the Lord says, "My son, give Me thine heart." He wants the whole heart, for the Lord Jesus says in three of the gospels, "Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart." Isn't it true that our love to the Lord will be seen in our obedience to His word? "If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

I remember as a young man listening to a conference address on Revelation ch. 3 about the Lord's message to the church in Laodicea. The speaker asked the question, "Is your love to the Lord hot?" And, I suppose like most of those present, I would have had to say, "No." Then he asked, "Is your love to the Lord cold?" Again I felt, well it's not exactly cold. And then he said, if it is not hot and not cold it must be luke-warm. He warned that to remain in that state would put us in grave danger. For God says of such, "I will spew thee out of My mouth." Oh may the Lord help us not to be luke-warm in our love nor half-hearted in our service. Some day we must give account of our stewardship in the matter of our love and of our service to the Lord.

W.H. Stewart, Glasgow, U.K. | Sept 1984
General