Monday, July 5, 2010

"Ever I Wanteth"

"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." (Deuteronomy 4:24)

Nothing less than my whole heart will satisfy my God.  He is jealous for all of me.  He says, "It's not enough for Me for you to go to church and do your church thing, or pray, or set apart time to think about my Words in your Bible.  It's not enough for Me for you to do your Christian duty and maintain your Christian status amongst your peers.  I want your heart, and nothing less than all of it will do.  For I am a jealous God, and a consuming fire."

Two chapters later in Deuteronomy (6:5) the Israelites are given the commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."  Fourteen hundred years later, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment of the Law is, and he says the same: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).  It has never changed.  The one thing God desires most is a heart that is fully given over to Him.  This is what Christ died for.

And so my Savior says: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"  (Matthew 10:37-39).

What holds us back?  Fear.  Fear of danger.  Fear of poverty.  Fear of cold.  Fear of homelessness.  Fear of disease.  Fear of '______'.  In my life, it has been most strongly the fear of man--not just of those outside the church, but even more of those inside the church.  But God is showing me now that He is taking away this fear.  He says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).  As He tenderly calls out for me to give Him more of my heart, I see that my fears subside and they give way to His love.

The interesting thing, is that as much as God is jealous for my heart, I see how needy I am for His.  The truth is, just as Lady Julian said so long ago, that I could have all things, but even then "ever I wanteth" for the heart of God.  And for the Sudanese man who says, "Give me my medicine.  Give me my education.  Give me my ticket to America.  Etc."  Even if I could give him all these things, and he not take Jesus, even then his heart would cry, "ever I wanteth."

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post Banano. I think about you often and am praying for you. Keep blogging! Are you feeling any better now?

Unknown said...

You are blessing so very many with your posts Daniel; including your dad.