Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13
On the door of every religious Jewish family you will find a mezuzah or a tiny box with a scroll within. It bears the message of Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
When someone gets into trouble, the press almost always talks to the person’s mother, who says, “He has such a good heart,” or “He is a good boy at heart.” Jeremiah the prophet would have disagreed. He said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jonathan Edwards agreed with Jeremiah. He said, “The heart is like a viper, hissing, and spitting poison at God.”
But there is good news: When we, whose hearts are sometimes darkened, turn to God, God responds because He knows when we are sincere.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 records God’s invitation, saying, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Notice the phrase, “all your heart.” Only you know when the needle on the meter hits the peg. Only you know when your heart is completely committed to something.
“I love you with all my heart,” we often tell our spouse and kids. Yes, that’s possible, and that’s also the way you can love and know God, too – with an undivided heart and singularity of purpose. Your heart is you! And you alone know what’s within your heart.