Single or Double Vision?
July 7, 2010
Samuel said, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve Him only” 1 Samuel 7:3
The nation of Israel had suffered a great and disheartening defeat at the hands of the Philistines. They had been unrepentant of their sin and presumptuous with the Ark, now they found themselves desperate, desolate and despised.
For 20 years they lived this way, paying no mind to the God who had given them so much. WE know not what immediately got their attention back on the Lord, perhaps it was the desolation of the land? Whatever it was, we are told in vs. 2 that they lamented after the Lord. What a great God, after the people had forsaken Him for an extended period of time, He was waiting patiently for them, using difficult circumstances in their lives to get their attention, all part of His will. He responds to them by sending Samuel to declare these great words to them.
If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve Him only”
Notice Samuel emphasises “If” and “all”…Their was a question as to how they were going to come. Their really is no other way to come back to the Lord. If we come, we must come with ALL our hearts. We must come with single vision, with an undivided heart, with a steadfast devotion. As Samuel said, “We must serve Him only”
Jesus says something similar in the Matthew 6, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
We can try to come to God with a divided heart, but it will be impossible to do so. We must come with heart set upon Him alone. We must come in brokenness and humility, “a contrite heart He will not despise” come no other way, until we do we will remain in a desperate, desolate and despised place.
