Undivided Passion

-


Scripture:

Psa. 86:11     Teach me your way, O LORD,
        that I may walk in your truth;
        give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
Psa. 86:12     I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
        and I will glorify your name forever.
Psa. 86:13     For great is your steadfast love toward me;
        you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Observation:

The Psalmist is praying to the Lord and in his prayer, we can find ourselves.  The way of the LORD is the path on which we are to journey.  It is a journey that leads us into truth and ultimately this leads us into a personal relationship with God, one in which our hearts are no longer divided over the things of this world.  Instead, we love God and serve him with our whole hearts. 

The result is that our undivided passion is in love, worship and service to God.  Great is God’s love toward us for he has lifted us up and brought us into the beauty of our relationship with him, saving us from the depths of the muck and mire found in Sheol. 

Application:

The divided heart is torn by competing passions.  The things of this world, even when they are good, can take us away from loving God with all our heart.  This includes all the activities of family, sports, work, leisure time and such.  The Psalmist understood that all of these had to be placed within the context of the relationship with God.  The undivided heart must love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and in doing so, then all of the other facets of life will come into alignment.  They will be fulfilling because they will be filled up with God.  The result will be an undivided passion that infuses our lives.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me your way and give me an undivided heart.  Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more