How would your life change if instead of flirting with God, you actually went all in, fully committed in a relationship with him?
“All in” is a part of Christianity that people don’t really like to talk about. People want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to make their bed, but they don’t want to lie in it. They want to cook in the kitchen but not clean up the mess. The fact that there are so many metaphors for this is evidence that people love the idea of limited engagement, limited attachment, being distantly connected. They want to give him just a piece of their hearts, access just to the part of their hearts they want Jesus to see.
Truth is, these are oxymorons. You cannot be distantly connected or limitedly engaged and keep an effective relationship. This is the relational version of burning the candles at both ends. You’re going to get burned. On top of that, I don’t know of anyone that is okay with having just a part of their spouse’s heart.
In Matthew 22:37, we read the following: “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’”
Jesus didn’t say love God with your heart. He said ALL of your heart. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows that we are prone to obeying our emotions, that we have a tendency to act based on how we feel. He knows that our heart is prone to wander.
The way you keep your heart from wandering is by wholly devoting it to something. Anger is simply the expression of frustration you’ve allowed into your heart. Bitterness and broken relationship is simply the expression of an offense that you’ve allowed into your heart. Keep your heart full of Jesus, and there’s no room left for anything else.
If I pour every drop of delicious southern sweet tea in a single glass, I have no tea left for another glass. If you pour all of your heart into your relationship with Jesus, you won’t have any heart left to flirt with an idol.
This is not new to the human condition. This is something we have been dealing with since humanity began. In Joshua 24, he told his people, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” That’s a question we must answer every single day. It should be the first thing we say when we wake up in the morning.
“I choose you today, Jesus. I am all in.”
So do yourself a favor and take a moment for a heart check.
– “Is God a part of my every moment, or just when I need him?”
– “What am I thinking about the most? What consumes my thoughts?”
– “Is my prayer and Bible study time a duty or a delight?”
– “Is my first response to a problem always emotional, or do I take it straight to Jesus?”
Relationships, whether friendships, romantic, even your relationship with God, are all a choice. You choose to start a relationship, and you have to choose every day to maintain it. If your relationship with God is going to be genuine and lasting, then it has to be all in.
Life or death. All or nothing. Choose life and go all in.
Joshua 24:14-15 “So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve.”
Be blessed,
J