by linzy bruno
It's completely natural and understandable for believers to wonder why God wants our whole lives and whole hearts, at least at some point in our walk with Him. However, this is a vitally important principle in which God has ordained for us, because He knows that this way of living is what's best for us. Here is a concise list God has put on my heart to write:
1). By sacrificing our whole lives to God, we grow stronger in our relationship with Him,which makes our lives better than living by our circumstances or only praying when we have a problem or only considering God when it's convenient, easy or natural. Jesus said it best in Matthew 16:24-25:
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If any of you wants to be my followers, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it."
This means that if we try to manage our own lives, we will fall victim to worry, circumstance and will be easy prey for the devil, that's what Jesus meant by "if you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it." By following the Perfect Example Jesus provided, we will naturally begin to grow stronger in our walk with God.
Which brings me to reason #2). We develop resistance to temptation:
"But you disobeyed My Command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you." (Judges 2:2b)
Notice that God said: "I will no longer drive out the people....." He had been driving out the evil people living in the land He gave to the Israelites, that is until they disobeyed Him by worshipping idols and ignoring Him. The evil people represent evil temptation in all of our lives and His statement here clearly depicts that He will subdue temptation when we worship Him and honor our relationship with Him, but He will not if we turn our backs on Him. Okay, granted this is an extreme example, as the Israelites, whom God had spoken to directly and displayed His Almighty Powers to, STILL turned away from Him and worshipped things like carved out statues! But, this verse makes it clear that He will protect us from all evil when we put Him first in our lives.
Another Scripture in which this protection is expressed is recorded in the Book of Romans. Paul told his Church in Romans 8:37:
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Now reverting back to the verse in Judges for a second, notice how angry it made God when the Israelites worshipped idols rather than Him. This brings me to reason #3).
Our God is a jealous God. This is another reason to keep Him first. Why is He jealous? There are several reasons. The Israelites repeatedly went from worshipping God, but then back to worshipping idols. Our idols today translate to: money, power, position, beauty, fame and people we think of as better than we are, like pop stars and celebrities. All of these things equate to idol worship: putting something or someone in higher regard than God. So, God is displeased with this because He knows it is not good for us to think and feel this way, because it causes us to focus on worldly matters and when we do this, we cannot think the way He wants us to think. This is called carnality. Another reason God was so angry with Israel for worshipping idols is that this practice is founded in evil, which is why He allowed such a devasting consequence to fall on them and leave them victim to further evil: they chose evil over good, so God left them to their own devices. Still another reason for God's jealousy is that when His own people do not put Him first, He is not glorified in the earth and if He is not glorified, He is brought down more to our level, which discredits Him and causes people to turn from Him. In other words, carnality sets a bad example for Christians and they can lose their way, hence, even in His desire of maintaining a position of superior entity, He is STILL thinking of what's best for us!
4). When we put God ahead of everything else in our lives and make Him the center of our worlds, we develop the fruit of the spirit, which is Christlikeness. This gradual, but beautiful change grounds us in a stability is not understood or attainable through ordinary (carnal) living. And by developing this propensity in unfeigned loving devotion toward God, our lives are more joyful, peaceful, meaningful and we dwell in a spirit of thanksgiving, even in difficult times. We are transformed by the constant renewal of our minds: THE ONLY WAY to develop Christlikeness, by the help of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us and abides in us; we do this through studying God's Word:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
"Be not conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's Will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
So, by developing Christlikeness, we become blameless in the sight of God. Doesn't that sound inviting to say the very least? So, now we can clearly see that God only decreed His people to devote themselves wholly unto Him: body, soul & spirit was to help us live better and yes, even more prosperous lives. As Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:33:
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Acknowledgements:
NIV, ESV
NIV, ESV
Comments