Imagine telling your wife that you love her with half of your heart. I can just imagine her thinking who are you in love with the other half. If we apply this same logic to Jesus then He has every right to question what other gods you may be serving besides Him.
Have you ever been passionate about something. If so you know that you put your whole heart into the thing you are passionate about. Missionary Dick Brogden said it well: “When God calls you, if you are not ‘all in,’ you are not in at all.”1 God wants to bless you. Just read (2 Chronicles 16:9): “For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” God, however, wants an exclusive relationship with you. As I shared earlier your wife wants all of your heart. Look at it this way you should be jealous for your relationship with your wife. Your relationship with her is unique and singular and intimacy with her is not meant to be shared with others – only with her. And that’s the way God views it. And exclusivity means we can only serve one God; and not share our love with any other gods.
In (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) we see the definitive verse in all of Scripture that tells us what God requires of us, but as you will see it is for our good. These verses read: “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, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” God’s greatest desire is to bless His children and have an exclusive relationship with us. He knows that when we put others before Him and disobey His wonderful commandments that this kind of a relationship won’t be very fruitful for us. It’s just like telling your wife that you love her but also other women as well. As with marriage only a 100% commitment to your spouse will make for a happy marriage. And the same is true with God – only a 100% commitment to Jesus will bring us peace, joy, and meaning.
Serving God with half a heart is like being lukewarm. In the book of Revelation, we see how God refers to the church in Laodicea when He says: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16). My friends if you don’t have a passion for Christ then you are lukewarm and in danger of missing out on the incredible blessings that God wants to shower you with. Sweet fellowship, intimacy with Christ, rich meaning, and abundant peace and joy are all waiting for those whose heart is “completely His.” Some Christians think that if they serve God with half a heart they will receive half of the blessings. This is a lie from the enemy, for a half-hearted Christian sadly, will receive bondage to the world and misery in his heart.
Serving God with a whole heart, however, is the only pathway to the deep blessings in life and a deeply intimate relationship with the God of the universe – Jesus Christ. And there is nothing sweeter on this earth than true intimacy with Christ!