I Have Applied My Heart

As many of you know I was a school teacher for quite a few years and it was always interesting to watch students when you assigned them a task to do, either as individuals or in teams, to see who applied themselves to the task and who tried to do as little as possible and just move on to what really interested them.

I have applied my heart to fulfill Your statutes; always, even to the end. Psalm 119:112

What does it mean to apply our heart to something? Well various translations of this verse give us some help:

“I have decided…”

“I am determined …”

“I have inclined my heart …”

“I am resolved…”

Those are all pretty strong words that at various moments will require some effort on our part, and especially when I look at the rest of the verse:

“always, even to the end.”

Are we willing to make that kind of commitment to God today?  We may stumble at certain points but it’s the mindset and the choice of our will at the outset that I think is quite important.  Will we now, always, right to the end give ourselves to fulfilling God’s instructions to us?

Heavenly Father, I think in all of us there is a desire for this, that we would apply ourselves to fulfilling Your commands. But, we need the help of Your Holy Spirit to do that in our motivations and desires when we face moments where it would be easy to slack off into something a bit more convenient. 

We need You to strengthen our resolve so we make that choice now, and again, all through this day, and through every season of our lives.

Jesus, You gave us the great example in carrying through the Father’s will even to death on the cross for us.  Help us to respond to Your great sacrifice for us by applying our hearts today to Your instructions no matter what.

It's a choice we make in this moment and then will need to confirm throughout the challenges of this day.  Let’s do it, shall we?