In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. (2 Chronicles 31:21)
Hezekiah knew that God would not bless half-hearted effort. So in all that he did for the glory of God, Hezekiah did it with all of his heart.
If someone was writing your story today, would this be written about you? Is the effort you are giving for the glory of God and the good of others half-hearted . . . or wholehearted? Remember, the choice is always yours and the results are guaranteed. Charles Spurgeon explained it this way:
This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule of the moral universe that those men prosper who do their work with all their hearts, while those are almost certain to fail who go to their labor leaving half their hearts behind them. God does not give harvests to idle men except harvests of thistles, nor is He pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its hid treasure.
We really should need no encouragement to give a wholehearted effort in the things God has called us to do. All we need to do is look to our Savior, who never gave less than all of His heart to everything He did. There was no half-hearted effort in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ! And when He had done all that He had come to do, He gave His heart to the entire process of crucifixion; He gave and gave until his heart beat its last and He cried out, “It is finished!” Our so-great salvation was not won by a half-hearted effort!
Make no mistake, if you are to prosper in anything you do in life, both personally and professionally, you will have to give all your heart to it. I have learned over the years that wholeheartedness shows itself in the three Ps –
Passion – a strong feeling of enthusiasm and excitement for doing something is a mark of a wholehearted effort.
Perseverance – regardless of the obstacles to overcome, wholehearted effort keeps going and going and going until the goal is reached.
Progress – the wholehearted accomplish the most basic demand of life: making measurable progress in reasonable time.
So . . . can you say that your life is marked by passion, perseverance, and progress? It will be if you are giving all of your heart to all you are doing. And on the other side of your wholehearted effort will be the promised blessings of God.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 