Have you heard about King Amaziah?
Yeah, me neither, until I read the book of 2 Chronicles.
So this king was the son of King Joash who reigned over Judah. Little Joash was just seven years old when he became king, and as long as the priest Jehoiada lived he followed God. But as soon as the man died, Joash, like his father before him, fell into sin, and died in his sin, and wasn’t even buried in the tombs of the kings. Man, talk about being snubbed!
Anyway, his son became king at the age of 25. Amaziah, however, did what was right in God’s sight…well, mostly. You see, the Bible has this to say about him… “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.” (2 Chronicles 25:2)
On the outside, Amaziah looked good. He went to church, obeyed God’s laws, and generally looked like he had it together. But on the inside? He was a hot mess. He complained about doing God’s rules. He trusted in his military success more than God. So even though he looked like he was serving God, his heart just wasn’t in it.
I have to confess, sometimes I’m the same way.
And that’s bad.
You see, half-heartedness is in direct defiance of what God expects from me. Grudging compliance is NOT true obedience. And, if I continue in it, I will end up a hypocrite. You know, like those scribes and Pharisees, who always looked great on the outside, fulfilling the letter of God’s law, but on the inside, they were ‘full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
Jesus wasn’t impressed by their self-hype, and neither should I be, especially in my own life.
If I want to have a rich, intimate, life-giving relationship with God I can’t just go thru the motions, giving Him lip service while dragging my inward heels every time He tells me to do something.
God wants me…ALL of me, and that means my entire heart.
And if I want God…ALL of God, then it’s up to me to daily search my heart for any resistance to Him. It’s my job to squash the rebellion before it ever begins because dragging my heels with God will never get me anywhere but trouble.