Doing the "Right" Thing

At one point in high school I had a summer fling.  A boy who I had had a crush on for a very long time finally gave me notice and we dated until he left for college (a mere 3 months)...leaving me at home broken-hearted.  

Well...I wasn't broken for very long and that isn't the point of the story... 

Anywho, what I'm getting at is a conversation we once had.  While we both claimed Christianity and attended church regularly, we still had some varying view points.  I remember walking one day at our town's local dam and him asking me this: if there is a woman who is "good" in every sense of the word - she has never done anything wrong in her life, you mean to tell me that just because she doesn't "accept Christ" that she won't get into heaven?  I didn't know how to answer that at the time except with a "no, she won't."  But that doesn't really feel good does it?  To just leave it at no?  There has to be a reason.  And there is.

2 Chronicles 25:2 - He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.

Amaziah is this man's name.  Yes, he did right in the sight of the Lord but, again, the issue lies in his heart.

If you remember from before, 'whole' in the Hebrew is shalem meaning "complete, safe, peaceful, perfect, whole, full, at peace" (Strong's H8003).  In fact, a number of versions of the Bible, including the King James, translate shalem as 'perfect' (Online Parallel Bible).  What Amaziah needed was to have a whole heart, a perfect heart, a safe heart in the Lord.  He had to give His heart to God 100%.  

It didn't matter that Amaziah did all the right things.  Works aren't what get us into heaven!  It is by grace through faith that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8).  And faith originates in our hearts.  God has opened His hands to us...all we have to do is give Him our hearts!

I could live my entire life doing the "right" thing but if I haven't given God my whole heart, it won't mean a thing - "Such is the character of too many...they do that which is good, but not with the heart, not with a perfect heart" (Henry).  


I challenge you today to examine your actions, your "works."  Are you giving God your whole heart or are you just going through the motions?  It is so easy to fall into that trap...we go through the motions, do what is good...and forget to give God our heart in the process.  Make it a point right now to give Him your heart and do every little thing for His glory.