“Lord I’m split in two
Part of me loves the world and the other loves You
So, what do I do
I wanna be saved but I gotta stay cool too
And no I’m not a fool
I know eventually I’m gonna have to choose
And really I don’t wanna lose my ticket into heaven
And a chance to be used by You”
That was taken from No Gray by Jonathan McReynolds.
Every now and then I listen to it.
And it always feels relatable.
Especially that line:
“I wanna be saved but I gotta stay cool too.”
Life often boils down to a decision.
You’ve got to pick a side.
You want the benefits of both.
But you’re not willing to face the consequences and appearing undecided.
Or in the case of a believer.
Appearing lukewarm.
Let’s put a pin in that.
Verse of The Week
Psalm 86:11
“Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth.
UNITE MY HEART to fear Your Name.”
Now, we do not want to be lukewarm.
In fact, what we desire is to have an undivided heart.
D De Haan remarks,
“An UNDIVIDED HEART, O Lord,
Is what we need each day,
For we are prone to compromise
And wander from Your way.”
So, let’s unpack that word.
Undivided.
The word undivided means not divided (obviously), separated, or broken into parts, not mixed with other feelings or intentions.
Jesus describes an undivided heart in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ” (Matthew 5:8)
In Matthew 5:8, the Greek word for pure is katharos which describes a heart that is pure in motive and which exhibits single mindedness, undivided devotion and spiritual integrity. The idea in Matthew 5:8 is that it is a heart that is concentrated on or devoted completely to one object, specifically the true and living eternal God not the idols of this fallen, temporal world.
Okay. Pretty simple.
But how do we get it? This undivided heart.
In Ezekiel 11:19 in a prophetic promise to Israel which speaks of the New Covenant, we read:
“And I shall give them one heart and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
The NIV translates it:
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
So.
This is a promise of the New Covenant and in that covenant we need to recognise “the spiritual cooperation” between God and man.
In Ezekiel 36:27, God’s Spirit will cause those in the New Covenant to walk in His statues. In the New Testament, this is paralleled by Paul who teaches that the Spirit, which is in us, continually gives us the desire and the power to be pleasing to our Father (to walk with an undivided heart) (Php 2:13). The second part of Ezekiel 36:27 describes our responsibility to act on the provided “desire and power.”
While we are 100% dependent on God’s Spirit, we are 100% responsible when it comes to observing God’s ordinances. As we learn to walk by the Spirit’s enabling power, we will not carry out the desire of the flesh (a manifestation of a divided heart!)
Or at the very least, that’s the plan.
To wrap up, here’s a prayer inspired by this verse:
Lord Jesus,
I need to hear these ancient words once again:
Unite my heart to fear your name.
I am so scattered, Lord.
Pulled in so many directions.
So easily distracted.
How quickly I forget who you are.
How quickly I forget your goodness to me.
Unite my heart, Lord.
Put it back together again.
Refocus my thoughts.
Clarify my purpose.
Grant that I should want you more than anything else.
Thank you for your many gifts, freely given.
Forgive me for loving your gifts more than I love you.
In confessing this I ask for forgiveness in Jesus’ name.
Here is my heart, Lord.
Come in and rearrange things.
Make me new from the inside out.
Thank you for loving me even when I seem to lose my way.
I love you, Lord. Do your work in me.
Unite my heart to fear your name.
Amen.
My Sunday Skl 