Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”
– 1 Chronicles 28:9-10
Devotion
In our busy lives, we love shortcuts. As a society we thrive on streamlining and multitasking in order to increase efficiency. Getting to our destination as fast as possible is the priority. We now have apps for our phones that give up-to-the-minute updates on the fastest route to our destination.
There is really nothing wrong with a shortcut when we are in the car (as long as it is legal!). The problem comes when we try to take shortcuts in other areas. The most problematic place to find a shortcut is in our relationship with God. During the busy seasons in our lives we tend to allow our time with God to be the first thing that suffers. Somehow we convince ourselves that we can take shortcuts and our actions will still reflect a close relationship with God.
In this short charge to Solomon, David reminds him of the most important part of walking with God: The heart. God is most interested in having our hearts. He desires “wholehearted devotion” and He “searches every heart.” What better person to remind Solomon of this than David who the Bible says was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). The problem is that we cannot take shortcuts when it comes to our hearts. When we try to do so it usually takes the form of action. Instead of spending time with God in the quiet moments, we try to force our actions in the moment. God wants to have our hearts first and He knows that our actions will follow. As my seminary professor, Dr. Tim Loyola, says, “God cares more about what He is doing in you (heart) than what He is doing through you (actions), because what He is doing through you (actions) depends on what He is doing in you (heart).” Do you want to be more effective in living your life for God? Then focus on giving Him your whole heart!
The Big Question
What can you do this week to make sure that you are spending more time surrendering your heart than you are on simply conforming your actions?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.