January 31, 2025 Devo

January 31st, 2025

“Walking Through the Psalms”
“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you.” – Psalm 9:1-2 (NLT)
“Wholeheartedly”

I’m in the middle of a sermon series called “Closer.” The big idea is from the passage in James, “Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.” So I’m asking the question each week, “How do we draw close to God?” Unpacking the different ways we can do that has been fun and enlightening.
But each week as I prepare the message, I think about how it will impact the people who will hear it. When you hear the big idea behind the series, you automatically think that drawing closer to God is something everyone would want to do—at least something every believer would want to do. I’ve realized, though, that’s not the case. Sometimes we DON’T want to draw any closer to God. In fact, many of us work very hard at maintaining a safe distance.
Why is that? Well, some of us know that if we’re truly going to draw close to God, there’s some stuff in our life that’s going to have to go. We can’t draw any closer to God when we’re holding onto some big bundle of disobedience! That’s why some of us are comfortable with just minimal contact and openness with God. When we get too close to God’s Spirit, the conviction and guilt kick in. So rather than lay it down, we pull away.
Others of us I think are afraid of what might happen if we get too close to God. We’re afraid of what He might ask of us. We’re afraid of how He might want to use us. We’re petrified that God is going to ask us to do something we don’t want to do. So we keep a safe distance and go through the motions, never experiencing the intimacy and power God desires for us.
Sadly, that’s why many of us will never know the joy of David’s statement in our psalm today. You can’t worship God with your whole heart if God doesn’t have your whole heart. You can’t tell of the marvelous things God’s done when you’re only allowing God minimal opportunity in your life. Hear my heart. God doesn’t want just a part of you. He wants ALL of you. Because in having all of YOU, you’ll get to experience all of HIM! He has more for you than you could ever imagine. But you’ll only tap into that when you chase after God the way He chases after you. Wholeheartedly. That’s God’s Word for you today.