In (Luke 16:13) we read the following: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” And in (Revelation 3:15-16) we read: “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.”
In both of these passages we see that the problem is one of trying to serve God with a divided heart. Just as a successful marriage requires we love our spouse with all of our heart since we must devote our entire affections to one woman, our relationship with Jesus must be on that same level – 100% devotion to God. Some Christians think that if they give God, say 75%, of their affections and efforts that they will get a proportional amount of the blessings. This, however, is far from the case. I like what A. B. Simpson says about this situation: “A divided heart loses both worlds.”1
God wants to bless us but if we half-heartedly serve Him the question arises who are we serving with the other part of our heart? Is it self? Or is it Satan? Either way we will be trying to steal the glory that is due to God alone, and that my friends is just not how to live the Christian life, since we know that the Scriptures tell us whatever we do we should do all to the glory of God!
One of my favorite Bible verses is (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…” When we serve God with our whole heart get excited because God promises us His full support in whatever situations we may find ourselves in. And just what does this full support look like? I believe it means we will be filled with the Holy Spirit, that God will use even the negatives in our lives for good, that we will be accumulating riches in heaven, that our holy lifestyle will shine forth and make a powerful difference in our dark and sin-filled world, and that our prayer life will powerfully impact our world.
While a divided heart toward God – what will it get you? Well, I am afraid to say, not much. If you are a Christian you will probably feel a lot of guilt because you know you are not pleasing to God. You won’t be filled with the Holy Spirit, but instead will grieve and quench the Spirit. You will have little impact on the world because you are so much a part of it. And your prayers will sadly, not move the Lord much at all.
My prayer is that all of us will realize that God is looking for faithful, sold-out believers, who can turn the world upside down for Jesus. And oh yes, it will require 100% of your heart!