An Undivided Heart

In this world, we face so many distractions: cell-phones, televisions, the internet, Facebook, advertisements, etc. We are bombarded by every side with temptations and messages trying to steal our time.

In our own lives, our reputation, popularity, selfish pursuits, personal dreams and pursuits, all demand a portion of our time.  We all have demanding agendas with a million and one things on the to-do list.

With all this pressure and temptation, the devil whispers into our heart, Surely you don't have the time to pray...   You are too depressed and anxious to spend time with Christ—you have special circumstances and issues and you just can’t focus on Him right now...

With all these things claiming our attention, how do we respond?  With all this noise, how can we gain strength and peace?

"Give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name." ~Psalm 86:11

This must be the cry of our heart.

We are bombarded from every side.  A thousand hands grab hold, trying to keep us from running to the feet of Jesus.  We cannot stand by idly and allow this to happen.  We need Jesus.  He is our only sufficiency.

Jesus is our life!

Think about it for a moment.  Our reputation will not last.  Our Facebook page will not last.  Our movies will not last.  Our personal pursuits will all fade away.  We are wasting our time on these things!  Instead of investing ourselves in such fleeting "pleasures," could we allow ourselves to find the utmost pleasure in the King of kings?

What do you think would happen if we spent all our free time with Him--reading His Word, communing with Him, memorizing Scripture, etc.  How do you think you would change?  Remember that the things that we spend time with are the things we become like.  If we spend time with Jesus, we will find ourselves becoming more and more like Him!

May we echo the cry of Ed McCully:  "I have one desire now—to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it." 

Oh, that we might have an undivided heart, devoted to one and only one purpose: Knowing, loving, and serving our precious Lord.

What does that look like on a practical level?

Examine your schedule.  Keep a time log--writing down exactly what you do with each minute of your day, for two weeks.  At the end of those two weeks sit down and examine your schedule.  Where could you cut out time? Do you find yourself watching two hours of news every evening? Cut it out (remember who is more precious, Jesus Christ or the television).  Do you spend 3 hours on Facebook?  Set a timer for yourself at 30 minutes a day (or something like that) and stick with it.  Do you sleep in till 8:30?  Wake up a little earlier!

Trust me, although what you cut out may seem hard at first (and it will be), keep your eyes fixed on the goal: Jesus Christ.  As you spend more time in His presence, you will learn to value and love your time with Him more and more.

But what do you actually do with all that new free time?  

Here are a few suggestions:

-Pray.  Keep a journal and record all the requests you can think of.  It may be a little hard at first to pray for thirty minutes or an hour, but as you persevere, you will find it gets easier and easier.  Pray through the Psalms. Pray for your country, the persecuted, and the unsaved.

-Read the Bible.  John is one of my favorite places to start with.  Record your findings in a journal.

-Memorize Scripture.  Pick a few verses that combat a particular temptation you are facing and commit them to memory.  Spend time thinking about what those verse mean and allow your heart to abide in them.

-Read missionary biographies.  These stories help encourage and inspire you in your own faith.  Some of the men and women who have gone before you served the Lord with an undivided heart. Learn from their lives.

Ask the Lord to lead you and guide you. Ask Him to give you an undivided heart.

And He will.  He invites you to come away with Him.  To be entirely His.  And in His presence you will find joy you never knew possible.  You will find love you thought couldn't exist.  And you will find a Savior worthy of all your praise.  May you be blessed with an undivided heart.

Note: I do not have this all together.  My heart is so wicked, and so divided.  But how much I long for an undivided heart.  I am in this journey with you.  I have made many mistakes, and the Lord is working just as much on me as He is on anyone else.  Oh, for an undivided heart in my own life!

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