A dear friend of mine shared this image that I reposted here today. So much truth shared in that simple illustration. If only we could ‘see it’, receive it, and then walk in it, Oh the freedom we might truly experience.

This may come as a shock to some of you reading here today, but we don’t get to ‘set the terms’ as to how a person is ‘saved’ or what criteria determines who a ‘Christian’ or ‘disciple of Jesus really is. God does. He’s the one who sent His only begotten Son to ‘save’ us and He paid a great price in order to make that happen and provide the opportunity for us to be become a child of God. (John 3:16-17; 1:12)

We can have a lot of ‘zeal’ for God and be sincere in the things we do and say; and at the same time we can be sincerely wrong. (Rom. 10:1-3; 1 Cor. 13:1-3; Matt. 7:21-23; 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:16)

That passage there in Romans 10 is interesting where Paul was alluding to the ‘zeal for God’ that many of the Jews had, but it was not ‘according to knowledge’. He then points out in that passage that while they were ‘ignorant of God’s righteousness’ and sought to ‘establish their own righteousness’, they were also not willing to ‘submit to the righteousness of God’. In other words, they were adamant in doing it their way. They wanted to do it their way and according to their traditions, which Jesus plainly told them was a pretty significant problem for them and with God. (Mark 7:6-16)

How might that look today in many of our churches.....this idea of ‘establishing our own righteousness’ or ‘recipe for getting saved’? Well, for starters, you might just randomly pick a half dozen different churches and call them up and ask what they teach a person must do to be ‘saved’. Chances are you will get a half dozen different responses.

Please don’t assume I am here to just throw one more ‘recipe’ into the mix today, as that is not what this is about. But I will give you plenty of scripture (as I always do) for you to look up for yourself, examine, and then decided as to whether your Bible states these things. (Acts 17:11) That, my friends, is all God has called me to do these past few years here. Remember, He no longer ‘winks at ignorance’. (Yesterday’s post- Acts 17:30)

So what exactly is it, that God ‘wants’ from us? Is it our money? Our time? Our acts of service? Does He want us to stop hanging out in shady bars and cuss less and ‘act more right’? This idea of ‘cleaning up our act’ is a familiar expression, but if we do indeed to that, isn’t it still an ‘act’?

In order for a person to be ‘saved’, it really boils down to this one truth: You have to give Him your ‘heart’.

All of it. And God means - All. Of. It.

Now this idea of ‘giving God our hearts’ is not unfamiliar lingo at all in most of our churches today. We invite people to ‘give their heart to Jesus’ and those who do will tearfully profess they have done just that: “I gave my heart to Jesus this morning...or last month...or five years ago... or when I was 8-years old”. And while that is all find and dandy and the right idea, where we get tripped up is when God ‘tests our hearts’ to see if we did indeed, give Him all of it. God does that you know, He tests our hearts. (1 Thess. 2:4; Deut. 8:2)

I had someone question me on that a while back, as they expressed concern over me repeating this idea of having to come to God with ‘all our heart’ was tied in with ‘salvation’. This was a person who had much knowledge of the scriptures. And honestly, I’m not sure how any of us can read our Bibles and come to any other conclusion.

Giving God just 50%...75%... or even 90% of one’s heart is not enough. Not sure about that? How do you explain the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking what one must do to inherit or receive ‘eternal life’. (Matt.19:16-17).

Does anyone else find it interesting that Jesus pointed him to the law, of all things, in response? “ If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments”.

Do you think maybe Jesus gave this young man a wink, and then handed him a card and told him to just standby for little onger and then the day was coming when all he would need to do is ‘say a prayer and profess his new faith after accepting Christ since he came to Jesus and now believes Jesus was raised from the dead’? I don’t think that is how that scene plays out there.

The young man was quick to tell Jesus that he had kept those commandments since he was a young lad. Jesus, who knows all of our hearts, looked at him and ‘loved him’ (Mark 10:21) and then told him....”you lack just one thing”. The young man paused, gave it some thought, and then turned and walked away. He was so close...yet...so far. As someone said one time, ‘He came forward but he didn’t get saved’.

Why not? He was not willing to come and give his whole heart to Jesus. Obviously we don’t know if he ever had a ‘change of heart’ later on, but the message was clear here in this exchange, as it is elsewhere in scripture: unless we are willing to forsake all...we cannot be a disciple or follower of Christ. Now some slick spin doctors are quick to jump in and try to distinguish a line of distinction here to suggest you can still be ‘saved’ without getting that committed...but you will most likely fall short of living that ‘abundant life’ Jesus spoke about in John 10:10. I mean, if you want to be a ‘super-saint-disciple’ then by all means give Jesus your ‘whole heart’, but let’s not get into extremes here, right?

I have yet to find in scripture anywhere the suggestion that we can ‘buy into the Savior package’ where one ‘accepts Christ as Savior’ but then pass on the ‘Lordship Option’ which honestly, is pretty costly. And if you have been taught you really don’t need that ‘Lordship’ option, then by all means just enjoy the brief time in this world and you can still receive all the benefits that heaven holds for you. Granted, there might not be as many ‘jewels on your crown’; which reminds me of an old hymn I heard years ago about someone “not needing a mansion, just give them a tiny cabin in the corner of Glory-land”.

And we wonder what Paul meant when he wrote about a great ‘falling away’ in the last days and people no longer enduring ‘sound doctrine’ while running to preachers who would ‘tickle their ears’. (2 Thess. 2:3; 2 Tim. 4:3-4)

So what is it about our hearts that God wanted? I mean, He does make that a central core sticking point that sums up ALL the commands and laws and writings of the prophets when Jesus declares and affirms we are to love God with...”all our hearts”, does He not? (Matt. 22:37)

Is there something good...or bad...about our hearts that He wants or needs?

Well, for starters, we again find those answers in our Bibles. We had defective, deceitful hearts that we are incapable of truly knowing. (Jer. 17:9).

[ I should mention here that Jesus eventually did teach that we could easily know what was in a person’s heart by what ‘came out of their mouths’ – “fruit” - Matt. 15:18-19]

Our hearts were corrupted and defiled. (Mark 7:20-23)

We were always going ‘astray in our hearts’ as we drifted away from following God. (Heb. 3:10)

It is our hearts that are in need of purifying. (1 Tim. 1:5)

It is only the ‘pure in heart’ who will ‘see God’. (Matt. 5:8)

And contrary to popular opinion and/or ‘theology’, one’s heart is not ‘made pure’ simply because they turn or come to Jesus, even sealing the deal by getting baptized in water. Why, you might even ‘speak in tongues’ but that is not the indicator that one’s heart has been made pure.

But let me be clear: I am not suggesting that all your sins you've ever committed have not been forgiven by God. There is a total cleansing of that past and they are ‘thrown in to the sea of forgetfulness’ (Micah 7:19) But when you come to Jesus and ‘give Him your heart’, you’ve only just begun the process of having that heart made pure. This is exactly what He begins to do as we ‘turn and follow Him’.

And surrendering to Him completely and to His Lordship is a pretty tough thing to do... IF...He does not have all our hearts. Many may have thought they ‘did that’, but somewhere along the way they just ‘checked out’. The reason many have such a turnaround is usually they end up loving something more...than they do God. It happens more than we think. (John 6:66; 2 Tim. 4:10)

You almost have to respect the ones who make that 180 and will flat admit to you they did as opposed to those who continue to “say ‘Lord, Lord’”, while ‘honoring Him with their lips”...but their (what is far from Him? Matt. 15:8-9; Matt. 7:21)

And yet the question we want to rush to and debate is: “But are you still ‘saved’?” As always, I will submit that is the wrong question to be asking. The ‘heart of the matter’ is: “Are you abiding in Him SO THAT He can begin...the process of purifying your heart?” Because truth be told, the process of that abiding and being made pure cannot even begin...until He has...your ‘whole heart’.

That’s all He’s ever wanted.