Whole heart?

but [Jehu ]did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—worshiping the gold calves that were in Bethel and Dan…

Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart.

He did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. (2 Kings 10:29, 31)

I was just reflecting on those words today.

There were some things God praised Jehu for.

One was for destroying the house of Ahab, fulfilling God’s judgment on them, not only for the evil they had done, but for the evil they had led Israel into.

Part of that evil was Baal worship which Jehu also destroyed. That too pleased God.

But we see in the above words that God did not have Jehu’s whole heart.

While Jehu did not worship Baal, he continued to worship the golden calves that Jeroboam had set up in pseudo-Yahweh worship. (1 Kings 12:26-33)

In that, and probably other things, he was not careful to follow God’s words with all his heart. (Exodus 20:4-5; Deuteronomy 12:5-14)

But for me, I was asking myself two questions today.

1. Are there sins I’m holding onto, sins that I refuse to turn my back on? Even “little” ones?

2. Am I careful to follow God’s words with all my heart? Even the “least of his commands?” (Matthew 5:19)

I want God to have my whole heart, not just part of it.

How about you?