My Lips Are Yours But My Heart Belongs To Me

There is an illness in the Church which causes half-heartedness in those who would be the children of Yahweh. It is an illness that allows obedience in some areas of the heart but disobedience in others. It is an obedience of convenience but whenever it becomes inconvenient disobedience and rebellion set in, but not in a way that disturbs the obedient parts. And so we lie to ourselves and say "I am a Christian".

Yet, to be a Christian is to be like Jesus and nowhere in the Scriptures do I find where Jesus served the Father half-heartedly. He came in full obedience. He served in full obedience. He died in full obedience. His entire purpose was obedience to the Father's will. He set for us an example and told us to do the same.

It is not dependent on how you feel. It is not dependent on what you think. It is not dependent on your desires and whims. It does not matter if you agree or disagree. It does not matter if it costs you little or much. It does not matter if it ends your life. To be a Christian, a child of Yahweh, a follower of Jesus Christ requires obedience until your very last breath.

Certainly, celebrate and worship the Lord for all his benefits and goodness. Cry out in your distress. Receive his comfort and strength. But understand, at the end of the day, what our Father is looking for from us is obedience born of our love for him. He does not want to hear the words "I love you" from our lips when our heart is filled with rebellion. Disobedience is rebellion. Willing to do what you agree with while ignoring what you disagree with is rebellion. Half-heartedness is rebellion. Let's turn to the Hebrew Scriptures for a minute.

There was one king in Israel that showed some promise after a long line of evil kings. His name was Jehu and the Lord had raised him up to bring about the promised punishment on the family of Ahab. He was so filled with zeal for the Lord that he destroyed not only the family of Ahab but anyone who was connected with that family. He put his motivation into words:

“Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” (2 Kings 10:16)

From this zeal he found strength to move on from the family of Ahab to also wipe out the Baal worship in Israel, killing all the priests and destroying the Baal temple. It looked like he was on the path to great reform in the kingdom of Israel so that they might join with Judah in the worship of Yahweh. Yahweh even made a promise to him because of his obedience:

“Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” (v. 30)

But Jehu could not manage to maintain the singleness of heart and his zeal waned. He fell into the sin of Jeroboam and worshiped the twin calves which had been set up to keep Israel from Yahweh:

But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin. (v. 31)
 
Yahweh ended up starting the demise of Israel under Jehu, handing over sections of it to surrounding kingdoms. Like so many kings before him, Jehu started off well but ended poorly. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with such examples, warning us of the importance of obedience. It is not enough to make a decision for Jesus, to call him Saviour; we must also walk in his ways every day for the rest of our life. There are times we will fail but when our heart is right, when we desire to be obedient, and we repent when we fail, his grace covers us and he picks us up again. You see, with obedience comes an unending flow of blessings but disobedience brings curses. What fools we are to choose to serve the Lord half-heartedly instead of with the zeal of obedience.

Jesus warned us time and again, directly and through parables, that true love provokes obedience and obedience to the Father is of utmost importance. When the question is,"who will you serve", don't allow your response to be from your lips and not a fully surrendered heart. Let it end as brilliantly as it began. Stay strong and run the race to win it.

Be An Elijah For Someone Today

Our world has moved from skepticism to all out hostility against faith in Jesus. That is, until Jesus touches their life directly. But sometimes even small miracles are refused. It is an "I'll believe it when I see it world" and hearts are getting harder. People want proof in the same manner in which science offers proof. They want conclusions drawn from observation and experimentation. However, they don't just want to see the experiment, they want to experience it.

It is like the widow with Elijah. Times were hard. The drought was hard. Israel had completely turned their back on Yahweh. They were being controlled and manipulated by evil king after evil king. These were truly evil days. So when Yahweh sent Elijah to the widow there was no surprise that faith was not a way of life.

Elijah asked the woman for some bread and when she said that she did not have enough the Lord did a miracle through Elijah. Because the Lord was taking care of his prophet he blessed this widow and her son so that the man of God would be provided for in this drought. Yahweh did not allow the flour or oil to run out as long as there was drought. Maybe this miracle softened the heart of the widow but it did not win her over. It wasn't until Yahweh met her in her tragedy and responded to her need in a way not seen before that she began to believe the man of God.

The widow's only son became ill and died. This was tragic on so many levels because this son was her future. He would look after her in her old age. Without him she had no one to provide for her. This was not even to consider the connection of love between the two. But in her grief Yahweh reached in and did something she did not expect:

And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” (1 Kings 17:23)

Now remember that Yahweh had already been doing miracles in her life but here was something that could not be explained away. So she responded:

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.” (1 Kings 17:24)

We are living in a world where words alone will not persuade them. You may have the plan of salvation memorized and know twenty ways to refute the arguments of an atheist, but words alone will not prevail against the hardened hearts of this age. They are looking for the power of Yahweh to lend credence to your words. Do we have the boldness of Elijah to pray believing for miracles? The Scriptures say that he was a man just like us, just a normal, everyday kind of guy. But he had faith. Be believed. He listened and acted on Yahweh's word. He looked around and was moved by compassion.

The world is not impressed by the size of your church. It is not impressed with your nice clothes and your great education. The world is not impressed by your fine sounding arguments. The world is certainly not impressed by our music and great organization. However, those hearts may be melted by a people who lived, worked, breathed by faith. They might be melted by direct intervention in their trouble and sorrow. They might be impressed and listen to your words when they see the power of Jesus Christ flow through us and into their situation. But will we believe? Will we act? Will we trust? Will we go?

What is the spirit of Elijah? Faith and obedience that drives us to take action. That's what the world is looking for, a people who allow their God to be glorified through them. Our words will not change them. Our songs will not move them. But the power of Jesus Christ can transform them. Will you be his Elijah today?