Scripture has the amazing ability to “stop us in our tracks”… I had one of these times a few days ago.  I was reading about King Amaziah and his reign in Judah from 2 Chronicles 25.  In verse 2, I was comforted and confronted with these words: “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.”

Comfort came in knowing that we can do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. That we can actually “do right.” Doing right can only come through obedience to what God has laid out, but there is the potential of “doing right.”  I was having one of those days when I wondered if I could ever “get anything right” (I am sure you have never had one of those days before).  After pausing to bask in the encouragement of that phrase, I continued to read and was confronted with these words: “…yet not with a whole heart.”

These words instantly sent my heart and mind into evaluation and questioning mode.  Where is my heart?  Where is my focus? Where is my walk with Christ.  I can become so busy “doing ministry for God” that I can forget that what he wants most from me is my whole heart, my whole being, every last nook and cranny of my heart.

God is more concerned with our hearts than he is in our business to “serve him.”  Yes serving is needed, but we can fall into a performance trap all too quickly.  When our actions flow from a genuine heart beating after the things of Christ with everything in us, then our actions will be right in line with his heart and his desires.

May that verse never be said of us or the CPR-3 movement, at least the last part.  May we follow after Christ with our whole hearts.