“… those who live should live no longer for themselves.”
When we have heart problems physically, we usually go to a specialist, a cardiologist. But there is no better heart specialist than the Lord—the heart’s Maker. He designed the heart to be filled and functioning without interruption. The same is true for what is figuratively referred to as the heart. The heart is considered the center of our being. Therefore, when God speaks to man’s need, He speaks straight to the heart. When God works in our lives, He always starts at the heart.
The heart of the matter
When it comes to the heart, the Bible tells the whole story. In fact, there are nearly a thousand references to the heart in the Bible. The first reference gets right down to the heart of the matter. What is the matter with our hearts? God says that it is sin. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
The second reference to the heart is in the following verse, and it is about the Lord’s heart. “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Gen. 6:6). You might see these two verses, being side by side, as a heart-to-heart talk with God. God’s heart is grieved over the evil of mankind’s heart.
God designed us to respond to Him with a whole heart, with all of our being. No halfhearted attempts will do when it comes to our response to the love and care that God has shown to us. There are a number of areas that God calls us to step into with all our heart. Let us consider these with heartfelt care.
Seek
The first is in regard to seeking a relationship with God. The Lord spoke through Moses and warned His people of their hearts turning away from Him to idols in the years to come. He promised them that, even in a far distant land of idolatry, “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” (Deut. 4:29). The prophet Jeremiah echoed this promise to Israel. And after they had been in captivity for seventy years in Babylon, a land filled with idols, they sought Him and found Him, and He delivered them out of Babylon and brought them back to the land.
God wants to be found. He did not say to Israel or to us, “Seek Me in vain” (Isa. 45:19). He wants us to seek Him sincerely. In the same way, the apostle Paul declared to the people in Athens, a city full of idols, “that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him” (Acts 17:27). While we are seeking Him, He is seeking us. We are the ones in hiding.
Love
The second way we are to respond to God with a whole heart is to love Him with all our heart (Deut. 6:5). When asked by one of the scribes which was the greatest commandment of all, the Lord Jesus answered with what is referred to as the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30).
We are to have an all-out love for Him. I know we fall short of such a calling, but our love for Him can blossom as we learn of His love—the great source of love. As John, the apostle with a heart full of love, wrote, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). Isaac Watts captured the heart of love when he penned the words,
“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine;
Demands my heart, my life, my all!”
Service
Thirdly, we are to serve the Lord with all our heart. Moses said it was required: “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” (Deut. 10:12). In other words, we are to serve the Lord from the heart (Eph. 6:6). Once again, the motivation of our service is love—His love. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
This is seen practically in Paul’s epistle to the believers at Colossae, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23-24). Have you ever wondered what would happen if we conducted our businesses the way we serve the Lord? Would we still be in business? It is worth considering.
Trust
We are to seek, love, and serve the Lord wholeheartedly. But there is more. The wise man said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5). We are to completely trust the One who is completely trustworthy. In a world of broken promises, be assured that He will never let you down.
Praise
Lastly, we think of the Psalms, and it comes as no surprise to read that we are to praise the Lord with our whole heart (Ps. 9:1)—with all of our being. We have much for which to praise the Lord, and the Lord inhabits praise. The psalmist said, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed” (Ps. 57:7). The fixed heart is a steadfast heart. Nothing can move it because it is wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord.
How can I have a whole heart? Fill it up to the full with Christ! He has promised to make His abode in us. Solomon, who was said to have a “perfect heart” (1 Chron. 28:9), said, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built” (2 Chron. 6:18). But now, wonder of all wonders, Christ lives within our hearts “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17, 19).
Do you have a whole heart for Him? The Psalmist tells us the secret in Psalm 45:1: “My heart is overflowing [bubbling over] with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King.” As we think of Him and His love and care for us daily, we cannot help but overflow from our hearts with praise for Him. Above all, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). In a world that tries to crowd our hearts with everything but Him, we must give Him first place.
The apostle Peter exhorts us to “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15). If we devote our hearts to Him, others will notice. When they do, just pour out your heart to them—the whole thing!