David's prayer for his son Solomon at the end of First Chronicles includes a request: "Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart" (1 Chronicles 29:19). It is fairly obvious that this appeal is for more than a physical wholeness. Solomon did not have a heart impairment. Rather, David, having experienced his own trials and temptations, knew the kind of commitment his son would need to possess to follow God's commands and statutes.
The readings in Ezekiel this week are a great demonstration of those who don't act with their whole heart. In Chapter 16, we are given the image of the faithless bride to represent how God's people treated him. Sure at the beginning, when he saved them and "made [them] flourish like a plant in a field" (Ezekiel 16:7), they were ready to commit, but the commitment was not wholehearted, for, in no small amount of time, God goes from describing the people as his bride to a "whore" (16:15). This metaphorical bride takes what she's been given and uses it for "shrines" (16:16), for "images of men" (16:17), and for "sacrificing children" (16:20). Consequently, God's states, "How sick is your heart" (16:30).
To be whole is to be more than free from defect; it is also to be "undivided" and "integral" (Webster's, 1970, p.1019). Wholehearted people don't promise one thing only to go do something else. Rather, they commit to the promise and are an essential and fundamental contributor to the promise's completion. Have you ever set out to do something, worked hard to meet your goal, and then experienced full satisfaction at your accomplishment? This deep pleasure perhaps was the result of genuine effort - a determination to not give up when roadblocks occurred. I would suggest that it is this type of wholeheartedness that prevents one from making "a shipwreck of [one's] faith" (1 Timothy 1:19).
Admittedly, it is easy and understandable in this day and age - with its stabbings, mass shootings, and terrorism - to speculate and wonder, "Where is God?" But we should never let this speculation make us lose heart for the important, life-saving charges given us. Ezekiel 18:5-9 shares, "If a man is righteous and does what is just and right - if he does not [...] lift up his eyes to the idols [...], does not defile his neighbor's wife [...], does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, [...] withholds his hand from injustice, [...] walks in my statues, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully - he is righteous; he shall surely live." I don't know about you, but these directions seem worthy and valuable, something one could commit to regardless of the speculation that follows others' poor choices.
Ultimately, I don't want to be the person who loses sight of what matters and end up like him who "loved to curse" and "did not delight in blessing" enough so that curses and misery was his reward (Psalms 109:16-20). I believe what it says in Ezekiel 16:43, that our deeds are returned upon our own heads. So along with David, I pray for a whole heart. I don't want to commit to speculation, to wondering about the "ifs" and "buts." Rather, I will devote my time and efforts to a "love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Timothy 1:5). For isn't this all that really matters in the end?
It's all that really matters in the end. <3
ReplyDelete