The divided heart
August 23, 2004 | 12:00am
Teach me, Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11
The Israelites of Hoseas day were trying to worship both pagan idols and the one true and living God. So the prophet Hosea used three colorful figures of speech to describe their divided hearts.
First, they were like a half-baked cake palatable neither to God nor the pagans (7:8). Second, they were like a proud man who cant see the signs of his aging they were unaware of their spiritual decline (vv. 9-10). Third, they were like a senseless dove flying from one pagan nation to another in a vain quest for help (v. 11).
Today, we as Christians are often afflicted with the same divided-heart syndrome. We believe on Jesus but are reluctant to commit every area of our lives to Him. We go to church but dont want to live out our faith each day if it deprives us of worldly success or pleasure. A divided heart, though, results in some serious consequences. First, we dont please God or attract non-believers to Christ. Second, it may take a crisis to show us our true spiritual decline. And third, we live unfulfilled lives, even though we flit from one worldly pleasure to another.
Lets pray each day, "Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name" (PSALM 86:11). Herbert Vander Lugt
An undivided heart, O Lord,
Is what we need each day,
For we are prone to compromise
And wander from Your way. Dennis J. De Haan
READ: HOSEA: 7:8-12
A divided heart multiplies our problems.
The Israelites of Hoseas day were trying to worship both pagan idols and the one true and living God. So the prophet Hosea used three colorful figures of speech to describe their divided hearts.
First, they were like a half-baked cake palatable neither to God nor the pagans (7:8). Second, they were like a proud man who cant see the signs of his aging they were unaware of their spiritual decline (vv. 9-10). Third, they were like a senseless dove flying from one pagan nation to another in a vain quest for help (v. 11).
Today, we as Christians are often afflicted with the same divided-heart syndrome. We believe on Jesus but are reluctant to commit every area of our lives to Him. We go to church but dont want to live out our faith each day if it deprives us of worldly success or pleasure. A divided heart, though, results in some serious consequences. First, we dont please God or attract non-believers to Christ. Second, it may take a crisis to show us our true spiritual decline. And third, we live unfulfilled lives, even though we flit from one worldly pleasure to another.
Lets pray each day, "Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name" (PSALM 86:11). Herbert Vander Lugt
An undivided heart, O Lord,
Is what we need each day,
For we are prone to compromise
And wander from Your way. Dennis J. De Haan
READ: HOSEA: 7:8-12
A divided heart multiplies our problems.
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