“I love you with my whole heart!” This is said often by two people who have decided to marry and build a life together.  Wholehearted love means that our hearts are committed to each other and no one else.  The words are not said “half-heartedly” in jest but from a focused love meant only for the object of our affection.

Years ago, I read a story of “The Splendid Prince” by Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian.  It is the story of a prince who falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl who lives in the poor part of one of his city. The prince wants to marry her, but he wants the girl to marry him for love and not just because he’s a rich prince. How can he do that?

As a prince, he could order her to marry him. But even a prince wants his bride to marry him because she wants to because of her love for him. As a wealthy young man, he could impress her with his wealth and power; But he couldn’t be sure whether she married him for love or for money.  So the prince came up with another idea. He decided to give up his position for a while. He moved into the girl’s village and lived among the people, wearing the same kind of clothing they wore. In time, the girl grew to love the prince for who he was and because he had first loved her.

PLOT TWIST…

The prince determined that He couldn’t bear to live without her, he asked her to be His bride. The angels in heaven listened expectantly as she accepted his proposal. The prince promised his bride that He would come back for her soon, and the peasant turned princess pledged to faithfully await his return.  Then the prince came to the peasant girl and told her he had to go away for a while but would soon return.  He told her repeatedly how much he loved her and that his love was forever. 

But the adventurous peasant girl’s wholehearted love began into half-hearted behaviors.  First, she never told anyone of her love for him or their engagement!  She never acted as if he was her espoused bride!  She would flirt and date others and go to wild parties. By the way she lived you wouldn’t even know she’s the bride of a perfect prince. More frequently than not, you couldn’t tell the difference between the bride and any of the other peasant girls in the village. You would expect the bride to be always thinking about the coming wedding, but she rarely ever mentioned it. You would think that her every waking moment would be lived out in anticipation and preparation for the coming of her prince.

This story gets even more weird.  The peasant girl is nothing more than average. At her best she is plain, but at her worst she can be just plain ugly in the way she treats others. There are times when she is cranky and moody, and she rarely ever achieves all she could. To look at her from anyone else’s eyes you would never believe she was worth much. But if you could see her through the eyes of the prince, who loved her wholeheartedly and relentlessly, you would believe that she is “to die for.”  Her prince on the other hand was the greatest “catch” of all whose love and care was forever! 

Can you imagine a peasant girl fortunate enough to be the object of a perfect prince’s eternal love? You would expect her to be captivated by His love and filled with a sense of wonder that she was fortunate enough to be loved by Him. You would think that she would be careful to remain pure in anticipation of the return of her royal groom. Instead, to look at her you might wonder if she even remembers she is engaged at all. How could a peasant forget about her prince? Is it possible for a bride to forget her groom? 

“I would never act like that,” we think with a huff.  But we, the Bride of Christ, have been espoused to Jesus Christ who is coming back for us, to live a forever life with Him.  We wonder why the peasant girl’s behavior didn’t change when she said yes to her prince; but church we sometimes do the same when we say yes to church activities and religion but have not accepted Jesus’ invitation to be our Savior and ignore God’s longing to be in a growing, intimate relationship with Him as Lord of our lives!  Jesus changes everyone who desires a relationship with Him.  We need a change of heart that is real and fully committed to our Savior and Lord.  When Saul had his encounter on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 it changed his life, his name and his behavior. Until the Bride of Christ has an encounter with Jesus, the living, risen Savior, her behavior won’t change.

Kierkegaard used this illustration to teach us of the ministry of Jesus. When the curtain gets pulled back on the mount of transfiguration, we see the Lord as he really is, in all his splendor. But he does not force us to love him. Nor does he try to overwhelm us with his power. He simply invites us to respond to the invitation of his Father: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 

Pause to thank God for a way to reconcile to Him through his Son, Jesus—our patient and long-suffering Savior who want to be our Lord for our good and His glory! 

We also thank God for those like Joshua and Caleb, the two spies assigned with ten other spies to go survey the land.  These two men displayed their wholehearted love for God by telling of the goodness of the land—just as God promised. The other men told only of the dangers and that it would be impossible to possess.  Joshua and Caleb’s obedience to God demonstrated their wholehearted love for God.  God rewarded them with wisdom, courage, strength beyond their own abilities, and now—land of their own. 

All who believe, wholeheartedly love, and listen to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit with all our hearts, minds, and souls and believe that Jesus, our Prince of peace came to save us from our sins, are promised to be joint heirs with Jesus with the bonus of eternal life with Him in heaven!  Who do you love wholeheartedly?  Our belief and love will be reflected in our behaviors.

Joshua 14

Division of the Land West of the Jordan

Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. ² Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. ³ Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, ⁴ for Joseph’s descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds. ⁵ So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Allotment for Caleb

⁶ Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, ⁸ but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. ⁹ So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’

¹⁰ “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! ¹¹ I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. ¹² Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

¹³ Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. ¹⁴ So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. ¹⁵ (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.)

Then the land had rest from war.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Israelites successfully overtook much of Canaan, but more land remained to possess. Caleb was one of the twelve original spies to explore the promised land and return with a positive report. He was determined to obtain the land God had promised him, even though he was no longer a young man.  Like Caleb, when we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord’s cause, God is faithful to give us what He promised—Him!  Where God guides; He provides wholehearted help:

• “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
• “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24
• “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
• Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.” Romans 12:11-12, MSG

These are just a few of excepts from Paul, the missionary who loved God wholeheartedly and sacrificially.  His mission was to know and be like Christ (Philippians 3:10) in all that he thought, said, and did.

Wholehearted love for God results in His blessing of life transformation by the power of His Holy Spirit living in us—All for our good and His glory!  Say yes to Jesus and enjoy an intimate loving relationship with God forever!

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. Thank you for showing the way to real life guided by your real Love for us. Thank you for loving us the way you do while transforming us to love others like you love us.  I love you, Lord with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul.  Fill me of all you know I need for today.  Remove all that does not belong.  Transform me.  Make me a blessing to someone today so they will know your love, too.

In Jesus Name, Amen