Day 5: An undivided heart
Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols (2 Kings 17:41).
We pray to You our Father in the words of Solomon, “Lord... there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below—You who keep Your covenant of love with Your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way" (1 Kings 8:23). Solomon had been counseled by his father, David to “acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind” (1 Chronicles 28:9).
Father, You have made it clear in the pages of Scripture that You require Your people to serve You with full commitment. From the beginning of Your law You issued the commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). And this was reiterated through leaders, and prophets, and the Lord Jesus Himself.
Joshua, in his farewell address to the people of God he had led for many years issued them a clear choice:
“Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living" (Joshua 24:14-15).
Later, the prophet Elijah issued as clear a choice: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).
The Lord Jesus also presented a choice between God and idolatry when He made it clear, "You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). And His message to the Laodicean church addressed the requirement for full commitment to God:
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth" (Revelation 3:15-16).
Father, You are a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24). But Your righteous jealously is not like human jealously—You are a holy God. You desire us to have an undivided heart, fully set on You—not trusting in useless idols that can do us no good, nor can they rescue us, because they are useless (1 Samuel 12:21).
The psalmist tells us that You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed (Psalm 119:4). You do not desire us to be double minded and unstable (James 1:8), like those who, even while... worshiping the Lord... were serving their idols (2 Kings 17:41). You do not desire us to be people who are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:4-5).
Keep us from a lukewarm, unpalatable form of godliness that would cause You to spit us out of Your mouth. Search our hearts. We pray like David, Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name (Psalm 86:11).
Comments