Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
When I read this verse, I am challenged immensely by the very first line when it says that I will praise you with all of my heart.
I don't know about you, but I am very aware that my heart allows for the affections to go to a lot of different places. My affections can even land in good places. You know, I think about the love that I have for my family. I mean, everything that I do feels like it is run through the filter of whether or not my family will be served well by what I say yes or no to.
I think about the friends that I have, community people who have been so important in my life over the years and time. I think about interests and hobbies that I have. I mean, I love to go running, I love to read. My affections are definitely not a problem of whether or not I have them or not. It's just where do my affections go?
Considering Our Affections
Have you ever stopped and considered what you have affection for? Of course, if we keep discussing this more and more, we might realize that not only do our affections go to places that are good things, but we also have misplaced affections that should be in good places, but are given over to things that are destructive or harmful. But it's important for us as human beings to know where our affections lie.
And so that's why, when I read this verse, the first line hits me so hard: I will give my affection to you, Lord. I will give you all of my heart. And I know at different times I've taken classes on theology and in seminary, and there's sort of this running joke that I've adopted over time because people have said it: whenever you see "all" in the Bible, all means all. And the reason that's important is you feel the weight of a statement like that when you read a verse like this, that I will praise you with all of my heart.
People of Praise
I think about the times where you've been at a football game and you see something incredible happen and you cheer and you shout and you're praising the people who are out there doing their thing. Or maybe you've been in a concert and you're just so moved by the music and excited to be there, and you're lifting your hands in celebration of what's going on. We are people of praise. We give our affection. But this verse is a reminder that we're designed as created-by-God beings to give our affections to Him.
I think about the verse in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. It says that God set eternity in the hearts of humanity. So in other words, there is this longing that is built into every human being, and this longing, this hole can only be filled by God alone. But we know that as human beings, sometimes we try to fill what is an eternal hole, an eternal longing with things that are temporal.
Telling of Marvelous Things
But this verse reminds us that we're to give our affections, our praise to Him. And then in the second part of the verse, it talks about how we're to tell of the marvelous things that God has done. I don't know if we realize the power of our stories and testimony. In the Scripture, in the book of Revelation, it talks about how the devil is defeated by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Our testimony is simply an accounting of the things that God has done.
So I hope these two ideas influence your day, that maybe we would take account of our affections. Where do they lie and where can I be more verbal or communicative about the stories and the ways that God has done marvelous things in my life?
