Have you ever been half hearted about something? We all have – and the thing is, when we’re half hearted, there’s one thing for certain, we’re never going to succeed. Part of us puling this way, part of us pulling the other way. Tears us apart. But God, God is into healing our hearts.

You know one of the things that I give thanks to God for is that I’m not indecisive. Well, at least I don’t think I am but maybe, I don’t know. What do you think? You get the point. It’s okay for us not to be sure about some things in life.

I was speaking with a man just the other day. Faithful man of God. Put in charge of a ministry. And once he took over he discovered that the organisation was massively in debt. And as I listened to him share his story with me. Would they have to close the doors in the next couple of weeks? Or would God perform miracles they needed? I really felt for him.

Sometimes in the circumstances of life we’re not quite sure how things are going to turn out. Is this going to go this way or that? Is God going to show up with a miracle or not? They are normal issues with life that we deal with.

But there’s something else that can go on in our hearts, an indecisiveness of a much deeper sort. An indecisiveness so deep that it tears us apart. And that condition is known as a “divided heart”. A heart torn between God and all the other things in life that we can chase down. A heart torn between a deep desire to give our all to Him and the intensely human desire to chase after the gratification this world peddles.

Imagine for a moment a football team where the players can’t agree which end of the field they’re defending and which end they’re attacking. Half the team thinks it’s one way and the other half thinks it’s the other way. You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that they’re probably not going to be the most affective and cohesive team on the field that day. And they’re probably not going to win the game.

It’s blindingly obvious, isn’t it? Yet how many people live their lives like that? Let me get right in your face with this today. I’m not going to “mamby pamby” around because while Gods passionate desire is to heal our hearts, there’s often little He can do when our hearts are divided.

Now there’s a principle that Jesus spoke of on this very subject. It was in a different context but the principle nevertheless stands. They all saw the amazing miracles that Jesus was doing and so some of the religious leaders accused Him of being the devil. They were saying that He was demonised and all these amazing displays of power were being, well, powered not by heaven but by hell. Jesus answered His critics this way:

Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If satan drives out satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

It makes perfect sense doesn’t it? It’s the football team analogy. If a kingdom is divided against itself that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. It’s blindingly, obvious.

And if our heart is divided, if our desires are pulling in two different directions, let me ask you something. How much peace are we going to have in our lives? How much power are we going to have in our lives? How affective are we going to be in pouring the love and the grace of God out into this lost and hurting world? Well again you don’t have to be Einstein to figure that out.

One of the things that really shocked me when I started scratching around in the Bible was how often this phrase appeared:

With all your heart.

Have a listen to just a few. Deuteronomy 4:29:

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 6:5:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 10:12:

And now O Israel what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart?

Deuteronomy 11:13:

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Over and over again, it’s in the same context. Being committed to God, loving Him and seeking Him with all our hearts.

There are so many people who want the benefits of believing in Jesus but haven’t thrown their hearts into it. There are so many people who want the peace and the joy of knowing Jesus. Who want the power for things to change in their lives for the glory of God. But their house is divided. Their kingdom is divided. Their heart is divided.

God is not looking for part of us. God is not looking for some half-hearted commitment. Last time I checked there were no Biblical dispensations for honouring and serving and obeying him like, “Well Berni, if it suits you. If it doesn’t cost you anything. If it’s not too inconvenient. If it’s safe and you won’t lose anything.” And yet sometimes we behave as though those dispensations are there.

So many Christians, people who love Jesus. Who believe in Jesus. They do it half-heartedly. Have a listen to what James writes about the getting of wisdom:

If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him but when he asks he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed with the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double minded man unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-8).

God doesn’t want part of us. He wants all of us. God doesn’t want us to be half-hearted or double minded, tossed around. He wants ALL of us. He’s calling us today to love Him, to serve Him, to seek Him out with all our hearts. Every last little bit. Every last ounce of what we have left. That’s how much He wants us.

Let me ask you something, are you in or are you out? Because there are no half measures for God. There is no lukewarm. There are no comfort qualifiers on this commitment.

How do I know if I’m committed? Well, here are a few questions that I use from time to time in my own life as a litmus test:

Am I prepared to stand completely alone for Jesus in this world?

Am I prepared to lose everything to follow Him?

Is there anything that I would not give up in order to serve Him?

They’re telling questions my friend. They are important questions because the one who is double minded, half-hearted, lukewarm, shouldn’t expect to live in a place where he or she receives the joy of the Lord and the power of salvation. Yes God wants to heal our hearts but in order for Him to do that we have to hand the whole heart over to Him so that He can heal the whole thing.

Have you ever done that? Have you ever asked God to help you with that? Here is a prayer that King David prayed along those very lines:

Teach me Your way oh Lord and I will walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name. I will praise You oh Lord my God with all my heart. I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love towards me. You have delivered me from the depths of the grave. (Psalm 86, verses 11 to 13).

What a mighty prayer. And Gods promise is to give us an undivided heart. Ezekiel 11:19:

I will give them an undivided heart and a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.