A Heart for God
The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
The Lord looks at our spiritual heart because we live out of our heart, and he can see if we truly have a heart fully devoted to God. The more our hearts are for God, the closer we are to him and the more fulfilling and meaningful our life becomes. What is a heart devoted to God as opposed to a divided heart?
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1) We sacrifice our bodies to service for the Lord, with a heart for God meaning our life is centered on the Lord. As his servants, we give him first priority in our life. Jesus’ life was devoted to doing the Father’s will and our life is devoted to doing Christ’s will. Jesus therefore said, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. (John 8:28). Our hearts are modeled after the heart of Jesus, serving the Lord, giving him priority, and choosing his will over our will.
A divided heart is a heart that is partly devoted to the world and partly devoted to the Lord. A heart that chooses something of the world that competes with the Lord’s will. The following is a quote from Dan Delzell, a Christian Post Contributor. “Even if you have walked with the Lord for years, a double-minded life will circumvent much of the good which the Holy Spirit wants to work in you and through you. What every believer desperately needs is to fully surrender their heart and mind to the Lord.” A divided heart is a heart that is not fully surrendered to the Lord.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4) A heart for God depends on Christ, through the Spirit, to be a light in this world. A heart for God finds the things of God more desirable, more interesting, and more fulfilling than things of the world.
Today examine your life and determine if you have a heart surrendered to God. Serve the Lord by ministering to people because our heart is always changing to be more like the heart of Jesus. We can never have a perfect heart for God, but we can identify those specific incidences where we choose to put the world first in place of putting God first.
Prayer: Lord, help me to put you first and to have a heart fully devoted to serve you. Fill my heart with the joy of serving you and the excitement that comes from ministering to the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen