This idea that God desires, wants, and yes…even ‘requires’ that we come to Him with our ‘whole heart’… really is ‘a thing’ with Him. Seriously, He really meant that!

Jesus agreed that loving God with ‘all our heart’ was the single most important and ‘greatest commandment’. (Matt. 22:36-38)

When asked what one ‘must do’ in order to receive or inherit ‘eternal life’, Jesus told the lawyer who quizzed Him…”love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Luke 10:25-28)

When a rich, young ruler came to Him asking a similar question, Jesus again…pointed to the ‘law’, as in ‘keep the commandments and you will enter into life’, the young man pressed Jesus asking ‘which ones?’ (Matt. 19:16-18). We soon discover that this ‘seeker’ makes the same mistake that many of us have been guilty of doing over the span of our lives and just automatically ‘assume we’re good with God’.

But wait…a more probing conversation ensues and reveals something that was not apparent at first. This young man was asked to lay something down…’if he wanted to be perfect’ (21) and he was not willing to do as he was asked by Jesus. (22). Apparently there was something he was loving more…than God, evident by his unwillingness to lay it aside and to continue following Jesus. Did God have this young man’s ‘whole heart’? What was his disposition when he turned and walked away?

Now before you want to step in and defend this young man, suggesting that ‘no one can keep God’s commands because they are too hard to keep’, what did Jesus say one would do “IF…they loved Him”? (John 14:15). And what would John later write in regards to what it means to ‘love God’…and whether God’s commands were too ‘hard’ or not? (1 John 5:2-3)

Oh, you know that one single verse everyone loves to quote and display and claim, and some even have it emblazoned across their clothing, if not tattooed on their skin”? It’s the one found in Jeremiah 29:11, and It’s that promise where God seems to make about all the ‘good plans’ He has for His people to bless them and give them a future and a hope. But have you read the ‘conditions’ that come with that promise, found in12-14, which speaks to returning to Him with…”all your heart”.

If you have allowed the ‘enemy’ to convince you that God ‘has it in’ for you, and that you will never be ‘good enough’…to be a recipient of His blessings, you might want to revisit Deut. 30 and read through that nice and slow, even marking some of those hopeful words of reassurance. God has never changed (Mal. 3:6).

But for some reason, the one ‘factor’ or ‘condition’ that we always seem reluctant if not hesitant to share with people…is this little thing we call ‘repentance’. Repentance involves a ‘turning’, a changing of direction where we come to Him and begin to follow His leading. This…is when one’s heart really gets ‘tested’ to see how serious we are about getting in on all the good things He has in store for us who believe. Not everyone buys into this, as you probably know by now (John 6:66).

For the rich young ruler, it was his wealth he was unwilling to part with; for someone else…it might be their pride, that tendency to always ‘be right and get the last word in’, in order to ‘save face’. For someone else, it might be some bitterness or unforgiveness that they have held onto for years, if not decades. Did you come from a divorced home where the parent you lived with fed seeds of hate and resentment into your heart, and you nursed a grudge towards the other parent you never had a chance to know and love? This is another example as to how bad ‘seed’ gets passed down through generations.

Do you know what ‘taking up an offense’ will do for you? (Prov. 19:11). It will get you handed over to the ‘tormentors’ whose sole job is to bring pain and misery into your life, and Jesus made it known God won’t hesitate to do that if we fail to ‘forgive from our heart’ (Matt. 18:32-35). This is how God ‘visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation’ (Deut. 5:9). And I should point out here that it’s not God who actually ‘does the inflicting’. He simply ‘removes the hedge’ which ‘gives place to the enemy’ to come in and to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. You might spend some time reading Isaiah 5, Job 1:9-10, Deut. 28:35 and then Job 2:6-7. I’d also suggest looking at 1 Cor. 5:5 and 1 John 5:18 as well.

I think we all like to assume that there is no greater love than what a parent has for their child. What would they ‘not do’ to ensure they have a good, healthy and productive life? Problems arise…whose the first one ready and willing to come to their aid? Need a kidney transplant...who will be first in line to be tested? Who is most likely to run back into a burning house to rescue a child still trapped…a neighbor or the parent? It seems that a parent is ready to go to any length to protect their children….except when it comes to the one thing God nearly ‘guarantees’ will do it- ‘Fear Him and keep His commands so things go well not only for you, but for your children and grandchildren, etc. Do you have the following verses marked- Deut. 4:40, 5:29; 12:25,28; 28:19?

As I stated in an earlier post, it’s almost as if God was trying to admonish us…”if not for yourselves, then follow and obey me for your kid’s sake!”. And what parent has not conveyed a similar dialogue with their own children…”Do you want things to go well for you in this house? Then do what we ask of you!”

And there is no harm in reminding one another what happens when we fail to follow…and obey God. Look what God makes known in various places, like Leviticus 26:22, Deut. 28:32, Lamentations 1:5…and yes…even the last part of Hosea 4:6.

Friends…let me encourage you with these closing words of hope and assurance. God does not ‘have it in for you’, nor did He send Jesus to ‘condemn you’; on the contrary…God sent Jesus to rescue us from our dreadful plight, to rescue and to save us from our sins (John 3:17-18, 36; Acts 10:38). But you have to come to Him with your whole heart, and yes…there will be some ‘ugly things’ that will surface and be exposed in our hearts. Don’t run from this process, or make excuses or assign blame. Just be honest with Him, and ‘confess your faults in order that you might be healed’ (James 5:16).

It is true…some of the needless suffering you may be enduring might be a result of things that happened in previous generations where the cycle of sin was never broken; but it doesn’t have to be like that anymore. Let’s be honest…we ‘all have sinned’ and no one is without guilt. And yet…you can be free…and ‘free indeed’! (John 8:32-36)

A simple genuine prayer of confession…and admission can be the catalyst that changes things for the good in your life; and we call that repentance. Go read Luke 13:1-5 one more time, if you would and let it speak to your heart.

“Do you want to be made well? (John 5:6). Then you too can ‘take up your bed and walk’…(John 5:8-9)…but don’t forget the warning that comes in vs. 14.

Oh…and for anyone who wants to bring up that blind man we read about in John 9…I would humbly submit that his situation was more of an ‘exception…and not the rule’. But that’s another conversation for another day.