Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
As a father, I read this verse and quite honestly start welling up with tears. The reason is the simplicity of this request from a father to his son. Give me your heart. All I want is your heart.
What a Father Wants
As a dad, I think about all the different ways I get to instruct and guide my kids. I have two boys and a little girl. When I get to spend time with them, I want to impart something meaningful, something that will help shape their lives. I want to teach them the things they need to learn about how they will navigate the world. I want to teach them simple things and complex things. I want to share with them things I've learned myself.
There are so many ideas I want to give my kids. But the one thing I want from them is their heart. I don't need their performance. I don't need them to prove anything. I don't need them to be something they are not to try to impress me. All I want is their heart. To have my kids' hearts would mean that they are honest with me, that they are vulnerable toward me, that they give me access to the inner parts of their being—that I would know who they really are at the core. That I would receive their affection. That we would be connected at a level where our hearts are aligned.
I read these words at the beginning of this verse, and it's impossible for me as a dad not to think about it through that lens. "Oh, son, give me your heart." It makes me think the writer understands that if you have the heart, everything else will work out. If there is connection and relationship, you can figure out all the things you need to know and learn. If we can be connected at a heart level, what comes out of my son will be something I know is produced from love, kindness, and graciousness. Give me your heart and the rest will follow.
How Much More Our Heavenly Father
Well, if I'm thinking about that as a father to an earthly son, how much more when we read this through the lens of the loving Father—the greatest Father—Father God, thinking about His creation, humanity. I just want your heart. All I want is what is at the core of your innermost being. I just want the true you. I'm not concerned about what it looks like on the outside. I'm concerned about what's going on in your heart.
Then the verse says, "Give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways." The writer is saying that if the heart is there, the appreciation for the teaching will come. Your eyes will take delight in the things I'm teaching you to do, if you believe at a heart level that I love you more than anything in the world. That's the beauty of this verse.
Where Your Heart Is
But this verse also tells us something important for our current day and age. Our eyes are given many opportunities to wander—toward temptation, toward the fulfillment of things that would satisfy our flesh. And this verse tells us that if God has your heart and your heart is connected in a good place, it's going to direct your eyes toward seeking the things that come from the Father. Today, as we go into the world, let's think about where our hearts are finding rest in our lives.
