Daily Devotions
God Wants Your Heart
Reading for February 24th: Deuteronomy 9-11
"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart..."
Deuteronomy 11:18
You've probably heard before in a sermon or Bible class that the biggest difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the heart. The Old Testament, we are told, was more about the outward obedience and the New Testament deals more with transformation from within at the heart level.
Whoever says that has obviously never read the book of Deuteronomy.
- "you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart..." 4:29
- "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." 6:5
- "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart." 6:6
- "God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not." 8:2
- "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul..." 10:12
- "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn." 10:16
This is but a short list of all the references that could be given regarding the heart. In all, the word "heart" appears 45 times in Deuteronomy. The idea that God is wanting Israel's heart and not just their outward obedience is central to the book.
God has not changed. What he wants from his creation has not changed. God has always wanted the heart.
Father, we confess that the obedience is often far from ideal. There is still a part of self in so much of what we do. Help us to invest our whole heart into all of our actions.
