Articles
With a Whole Heart
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” – 1 Chronicles 28:9
We see here the last days of King David as he prepares to hand over rule of his people to his son and heir Solomon. David knew that if Solomon was successful in his personal relationship with God, then he would be able to rule successfully. David himself had built up the nation of Israel into a great kingdom with the help of God; despite his own missteps and failures, David knew that the success of Israel had directly correlated with David being a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). David encourages his son to seek God and to serve Him with a whole heart; indeed the scriptures often spend time discussing the matters of the heart. This begs the question: is our heart right with God? We see from the scriptures that a whole heart is pure, diligent, and purposeful
A whole heart is going to first be one of purity. Purity is defined as “conforming absolutely to a standard of quality; faultless.” Purity of soul and purity of conscience are both important attributes in a Christian’s life; without purity, the heart will never turn towards God. In David’s darkest moment of sin, the King recognized the need for his heart to be cleansed before the Lord (Psalm 51). In serving a pure and holy God, we are admonished to be similarly pure and holy (1 Peter 1:15-22). A pure heart will strive to be zealous for the Lord, and will encourage and exhort other hearts to follow the same path (Romans 10:1-3).
A whole heart will also be one of great diligence. Diligence is the action and discipline that gives purity meaning and purpose. An athlete can be immensely talented and gifted, but with no diligence for practice and work his abilities will come to nothing. Similarly we must diligently strive to apply Godly discipline to our lives; a diligent heart will seek out God’s solutions for all of life’s problems (Proverbs 4:23). A diligent heart will take the lessons learned in purity, and apply them to the stress and strain of daily life (Proverbs 23:7). Those men who do not have diligent hearts may have great zeal for the Lord, but they will ultimately lash out in the dark and will not reach the end goal (Ephesians 4:17-23).
Finally, a whole heart is one of great purpose. Daniel exhibits this purpose wonderfully when he refuses to defile himself with the Babylonian king’s meat and wine; Daniel resolves not to violate his conscience and act instead in accordance with God’s word (Daniel 1:8). Without purpose in this world, a heart will flounder about aimlessly. No matter the purity or self-discipline a Christian may have, if he does not direct his energies to fulfilling God’s purpose for him then he has failed in his duty to the Lord. A purposeful heart looks to serve others, and bear fruit in the name of the Gospel of Christ (Acts 11:23). The purposeful heart knows that its final destination is not here on Earth, but that someday it will be reunited with the Lord above (Matthew 6:19-24).
Purity. Diligence. Purpose. The Christian heart will contain all these ideals. When all three of these virtues combine, the Christian is a fiery and strong tool for the Lord’s work. Let us all strive to have a heart like David did; one after God’s own heart. It will not come by magic. A whole heart requires hard work, prayer, and sacrifice for the Lord. Let us all continue to strive for whole hearts before the Lord!
