Halfhearted

Today's Bible Reading: JEREMIAH 2:23-5:19

Jeremiah 3:10

Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”

Halfhearted efforts don’t usually pan out well. They often fail miserably. The expectation that one puts into them doesn’t typically come to fruition. Imagine a teacher that doesn’t have their “heart” in their teaching or a doctor who doesn’t put his “whole heart” into His procedures and practices. Not much would be given or expected with such efforts. They would soon be discredited and most likely dismissed. Halfhearted anything just doesn’t work well.

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah didn’t fare well in their pursuit of the Lord. They were constantly slipping in and out of their relationship with God. And when they did return it was not with a “whole heart”. Instead of effort they gave offense. King Josiah had tried to reform the kingdom of Judah, but the people only experienced external change without any internal transformation. They looked religious on the outside, but inside they were unchanged. They were like those to whom Jesus encountered many years later. He called them out for the very same thing saying, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt 23:27-28). It seems in religious circles nothing ever changes it just reoccurs within the following generations.

Notice a few facts within the text that will help us avoid this same reoccurring hypocritical religiosity in our own lives. First, the Israelites had turned away from the Lord. As mentioned in the preceding devotional God’s people had abandoned Him to fashion gods more to their own liking. They had left the fountain of living water and dug for themselves broken cisterns that didn’t hold water. (Jer 2:13) Second, they eventually realized their sinful behavior and returned to the Lord. It is good news because they discovered the fallacy of their failing and found their way back to the Lord. But finally, notice that their return to Him was halfhearted. They were not sincere. They were only pretending to return to appease those around them. They returned to their religious practices but not to Him.

The tragedy is that the people of Judah watched their “sister” Israel turn away by going “up on every high hill and under every green tree and there played the whore.” and “Judah saw it”. (Jer 3:6). They clearly observed how the kingdom of Israel slipped away from the Lord and then were sent away into captive by the Lord. (Jer 3:8). You would think that they would not follow their “sister’s” actions knowing the outcome, but “Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.” (Jer 3:8). Their halfhearted remorse and return to the Lord was a ridiculous display of their disregard for their relationship to the Lord. They took their sin lightly and were insincere in their repentance and response. Yet God over and over again pleaded with them to whole heartedly return to Him. He promised that If they would, that He would no longer look upon them in anger, but with mercy (Jer 3:12-13). Needless to say, they chose to continue with their halfhearted response, so eventually they meet the same fate that their “sister” Israel had met. They too were taken into exile.

Here is a tremendous caution for us to heed. God wants a whole hearted response to Him. He knows that like His people of old, we will all directly and deliberately disobey Him. The concern of our text is not whether we will fall into sin, but what will happen when we return to Him. A whole hearted response to Him demands that we disconnect ourselves from the sin that drew us away. There must be a clean break from our disobedience. We cannot have the sin and Him. Our whole heart must be wholly His. There can be nothing less than a total commitment to Him. It is better not to return than to return with the intention of retaining your sin. Let us strive to be a whole heart believer.

Today be thankful that the Lord saw that we would continually fall in and out of sin and that He made a provision for our sins in Christ. Praise Him that when we return to Him with our whole heart, He will no longer look upon us with anger, but with mercy. Ask Him to help you to seek to be whole heartedly committed to Him.