But not wholeheartedly

I was reading from 2 Chronicles 25 about the life of Amaziah.  So many times the Bible talked about how Kings followed God or they did evil.  Amaziah’s story is tragic to me.  It says in 2 Chronicles 25:2 that “he did right in the eyes of the Lord.”  That would be great except what followed the comma.  Then it said, “but not wholeheartedly.”  To me those are powerful 3 words.  It is one thing to follow Jesus, but you can’t really follow someone partially.  What about someone who is married, but not wholeheartedly?  What about someone who does a good job at work, but not wholeheartedly?

Amaziah’s reign started off well, but in the end he let pride and arrogance get the best of him.  Doing the right things may look good on the outside, but what about what is in our hearts?  Jesus dealt with some of the most religious and self-righteous people in his day.  The Pharisees sure knew the Scriptures and they knew how to look good.  They followed the rules.  But most were in it to do “right in the eyes of the Lord.”  Their hearts weren’t in what they were doing.  In Matthew 19 a man came up to Jesus and asked what did he need to do to get eternal life.  Jesus told him to keep the commandments.  The man said he had done all of that. However, Jesus told him to sell all of his possessions and give to the poor and then follow Jesus.  Matthew 19:22 says “the young man went away said because he had great wealth.”  He did right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.

I got to thinking about my own life.  Do I just follow the rules and check off my Christian boxes just so I can say I do right in the eyes of the Lord?  Or do I truly follow God wholeheartedly?  My prayer for 2019 is that I not only serve God, but I serve Him with all my heart.