Serving Wholeheartedly

There are those who are still wholeheartedly doing all they can to help hurricane victims in both Texas and Florida. In countless cases their love and compassion for their neighbors and complete strangers has been above and beyond what anybody could ask for. Individuals and group volunteers, from the smallest to the largest non-profit organizations, local, state and federal agencies have all focused on the suffering of humanity in a God-like manner which I pray is noticeable worldwide as peace and love.

[2 Chronicles 25:1-2]  “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years; ...he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.” I can’t see into your heart, but God can, and He gives us a peak into the heart of Amaziah. He “did what was right” on two occasions. First in keeping with the Law of Moses, Amaziah did not kill the sons of the people who had murdered his father (verses 3, 4). Second, Amaziah listened to God’s prophet and sent the mercenary soldiers back to their homes (verses 5-10). But Amaziah’s “heart was not loyal” to the Lord. Two examples are given. First he brought back the gods of the people Seir and “bowed down before them” and “burned sacrifices to them” (verse 14). Second he refused to listen when God’s prophet rebuked him for his sin (verses 15, 16). People can do the will of God but not have a loyal heart. They may worship God because they know God desires that we worship Him (John 4:23); but then not worship Him according to truth (John 4:24). People may do what is right as long as it pleases them, but when faced with their error their disloyal heart stops their ears to the truth of God’s word. Is your heart right with God, or are you like Amaziah? Do you walk the walk or just talk the talk? A missionary’s wife was once teaching some children about the value of giving. She quoted Acts 20:35 where Paul was teaching the Ephesian elders, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.” One young boy soaked in every word and then decided to live out her teaching, but he had no money to purchase a gift for her. Then he had an idea. A few days later the boy brought the teacher a seashell necklace. It glistened with iridescent beauty. The woman was taken aback. “Where ever did you find such beautiful shells?” the teacher asked. The youth told her that he walked to the coast of the country to a certain spot where these shells could be found. The teacher knew that it would have taken the young man hours upon hours through difficult and dangerous terrain to walk to the sea. “It’s so beautiful,” she said, “but you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get this gift for me.” The boy smiled and simply said, “Long walk part of gift.” Certainly we can use this touching story to remind ourselves of the “long walk” of Christ that was a part of God’s gift to man. Jesus was “chosen before the creation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) to come to the earth, walk upon it, live, die, and rise again for the sake of helpless mankind. His trip was difficult and dangerous, but it was all a part of God’s “...eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11). Jesus did this willingly and lovingly. He endured hardship, ridicule, shame, and mistreatment – all for us (Hebrews 2:17; 12:2-3). If we were to ask Him, “Why all this trouble, why did you do it this way?” he would smile and say to us, “The long walk was part of the gift.” The blessed walk with God.