An older friend told me a story about his divorce. One day, his wife of 20+ years came to him and said, “You don’t deserve what I’m about to say to you. You’re a good man. But I’m not interested in this marriage anymore. I don’t care to talk much with you. I’ll do household chores and even perform my “martial duties” with you. But I’m not interested in investing more than that in this marriage.”

My heart sank for him. My own spirit felt stung just hearing it. How must it feel to live and experience this as a spouse?

A very understated response to this would be “That’s not cool!”

As my friend told me this, I heard a whisper in my mind: “This is why God hates half-hearted worship.” It’s wrong because he deserves everything.

Matthew 22:37 - And [Jesus] said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

“All… all… all…”

Love me with your all Or don’t love me at all (Jon Guerra - Illness of the Heart)

Whole-hearted love to God. Vitality and nothing less.

God is to be the pinnacle. And too often, he’s barely any kind of thought at all in our day.

We feel so dead in our faith when our life never eclipses more primitive faiths - form, sentimentality, intellect. Lesser faiths are like a branch cut off from the tree.

May we get our hearts into the most honest place we can and let it rip with God - to tell him where we are and any ways we’re disillusioned and ask to see him as he really is and to have whole hearts toward him.

May he deepen and strengthen our faith - even if our faith is as small as a mustard seed or barely hanging on:

2 Timothy 2:13 - if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself.

Matthew 6:33 - seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…

May we be planted next to God’s good river that will water and grow us as we abide in Jesus! May we have vitality and a whole heart of love to him!