As I was reading my daily Bible reading from the New Living Translation, I came upon a portion of Scripture from Deuteronomy chapter 30 that the Spirit quickened to me. In the proceeding chapters God had laid out the blessings and curses that would come on Israel depending on their wholehearted obedience to His covenant with them.
In Deuteronomy 30 God promised them in verse four that if they wholeheartedly obeyed Him that HE WOULD FIND THEM no matter where they were. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” Wholehearted obedience gets God’s attention! God is not looking for perfect people but people whose heart is wholly after Him and will respond to the prompting of His Holy Spirit. He is looking for people, who will lay everything down for Him, His will, and His kingdom. No matter where you are or what you are going through, when you put your full focus on Him and are willing to do anything He asks you, He will find you.
The second thing I saw in verse six that God will do for those who wholeheartedly obey Him is that “the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. In Ezekiel 11:19 God says that He will take away our stony heart and give us a heart of flesh. The circumcised heart enables you to love the Lord with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. Life can make our heart stony. We are exposed to so much in the media and are often so hurt by people and circumstances that we lose our heart of compassion. Wholehearted obedience enables you to love.
The third result of wholehearted obedience is in verse nine. “The Lord your God will make you successful in everything you do.” James says, “he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25 How does the law bring liberty? Wholehearted obedience to God’s word and the Spirit sets us free from having to figure things out and manipulate things to our advantage. When I lived in Haiti, we were surrounded by constant, desperate need. Whom do we help and how much? I knew missionaries who became hard hearted because of the constant need and others who left the field because of the overwhelming need. God told me not to try to figure out whom to help but to simply respond to the nudge of the Spirit. Wholehearted obedience will release you into Godly success.
The last thing I saw as a result of wholehearted obedience was in the last part of verse nine. “The Lord will delight in being good to you.” You don’t have to beg God for things. God loves to give His children good gifts. He wants to surprise you in creative, unexpected ways. God is madly in love with you. Quit trying to figure things out and manipulate things your way. Abandon yourself to serving God and others despite the circumstances and peoples’ response, and see what God will do for you. Wholehearted obedience will cause God to be D-E-L-I-G-H-T-E-D in you.
Yours in Christ,
Andy Clark
www.worldhorizonsusa.org
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