During the time of Jesus, the religious people thought that if they kept the rules they would be pleasing to God. Many of their rules came from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Additional rules came from their centuries of traditions. Sometimes they made the commandments of God of no effect by their traditions. This is what Jesus said to them in Matthew 15:7-9 “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” The same could be said of some today who believe in Jesus. We can be so caught up in the rules and activities of the church that we fail to realize that God wants us to worship Him from our hearts.
We understand that the physical heart is one of the chief organs within the body. It pumps the blood to all parts of the body and is vital for physical life. By an easy transition, the word “heart” came to stand for an individual’s entire mental and moral activity or the inner person of an individual. God wants this inner person of each of us. He wants your heart, your whole heart. He doesn’t want a divided heart. Let us look as some scriptures that show how much God wants you to give Him your whole heart.
First of all, God wants you to believe with all your heart. Philip had met the Ethiopian eunuch on the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip had explained the scriptures and told the eunuch about Jesus and about the need to be baptized. Acts 8:36-37 “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” As Philip asked the eunuch, I ask you. Do you believe in Jesus with all your heart? Or do you just believe with part of your heart? I encourage you to believe with all your heart.
Look at the first and great commandment. Various ones were testing Jesus. Matthew 22:35-38 “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.’” How much are you to love God? With all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. God wants you to love Him that much. God doesn’t want you to love Him a little. He wants you to love Him with all your heart.
God wants us to seek Him and find Him. Moses predicted that the Israelites would enter the promised land but soon forget God and that God would scatter them among the peoples. Deuteronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” You also can seek and find God if you seek Him will all your heart. Psalms 119:2 “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!” I encourage you to seek God with your whole heart and find Him.
God also wants us to serve Him. It is one of our privileges to serve our God as He desires for us to do. Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” God spoke through Moses in Deuteronomy 11:13-15 “And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.” God promised to bless the Israelites if they served Him with all their heart. How are you to serve God? With your whole heart.
King David was a man who worshiped God from His heart. When they brought the ark of God up to the City of David, he rejoiced so much that he danced before the Lord with all his might. Michal, his wife, thought he made a fool of himself and this became a source of problems between them (2 Samuel 6:14-23). But for David, it was important to him to praise God with his whole heart. He wrote in Psalms 9:1 “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.” He wrote again in Psalms 86:12 “I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.” We also are taught to sing and praise God. Ephesians 5:19-20 “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When you sing praises to God, I encourage you to praise God and give Him thanks with your whole heart.
In the New Testament we are taught that our obedience to God should be from our heart. Romans 6:17 “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Our giving should be as we purpose in our heart. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” We are to call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
God is interested in your heart. Don’t be deceived that you can be pleasing to God by following a bunch of rules. God wants your heart. He wants you to believe with you whole heart, seek Him with your whole heart, praise Him with your whole heart, and love Him with all your heart. God wants your heart.