“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).

I’m not fluent in Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, but I believe that in each of those languages, the word “all” literally means “all.” Young’s Literal Translation reads, “And — ye have sought from thence Jehovah thy God, and hast found, when thou seekest Him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.”  The Orthodox Jewish Bible reads, “But if from thence thou shalt seek Hashem Eloheicha, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy lev and with all thy nefesh.” I don’t understand some of those words, but I do understand the word “all.”

According to Webster, as an adjective, the word “all” has these meanings:

• 1: the whole amount, quantity, or extent of
• 2: every member or individual component of
• 3: the whole number or sum of
• 4: every
• 5: any
• 6: nothing but 
• 7: used up; entirely consumed 
• 8: being more than one person or thing

Compare these meanings above to those for “integrity” below:

• 1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values:  Incorruptibility
• 2: an unimpaired condition: Soundness
• 3: the quality or state of being complete or undivided: Completeness

These definitions have similarities. To have integrity is to be pure, whole, complete. Therefore, I could conclude that God’s command in Deuteronomy 4:29 (above) equates to having integrity in our pursuit of Him.  If we pursue the LORD our God with integrity, with our whole hearts/all/every/nothing but our heart and soul, our “all,” we will find Him.

This is the singlemindedness that Paul speaks of in the verse from last week: “Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

We are called to leave our past behind and reach forward to what is ahead. If we try to maintain some semblance of our former selves, we can’t be new creations. Isaiah writes: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Jesus told his disciples in Luke 9:59-60 “To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’” Sometimes when we try to keep hold of the past, it is just wrong and we know it. When our old life includes breaking the law, whether civil or moral, then it’s absolutely necessary to flee and not look back. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back as they were fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah.  And in other cases, decisions about obedience are based on choosing between two rights, and this is when we must use discernment from the Holy Spirit to make the best decision. In the case above, Jesus called a disciple who then asked to put off his calling to care for a sick father. Obviously, it’s not wrong to take care of your parents. In fact, the Bible says to honor your father and mother. However, if taking care of your parents is an excuse to put off a call from God, especially when there are other options for ensuring that your parents are cared for (in this case), then the right decision is to obey God’s call as expeditiously as possible.

And in Luke 9:61-62 “Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’  Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’” The example of the plow is a great one, and in keeping with Jesus’ other agricultural analogies. It’s impossible to plow a straight furrow unless you keep your eye firmly on the target at the far end of the field and your hands tightly on the plow handles. You just can’t plow even furrows with one hand while looking over your shoulder. If you can’t picture the plowing analogy, driving is also a good comparison. We tend to veer in the direction we are looking.

In The Life You’ve Always Wanted, author John Ortberg refers to Soren Kierkegaard’s book entitled Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing when he says that we have failed to achieve simplicity. According to Ortberg, this means we have failed to have a life that is integrated, that is focused on one thing, seeking first the kingdom (Matthew 6:33).  I am reminded of so many of the kings in the Old Testament, such as King Solomon of whom is it written in 1 Kings 3:3 “Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.” James refers to this as being double-minded, and it’s not a good thing.

To sum up, if we believe that integrity is critical to being all-in followers of Jesus, then as we learned last week, we must first pray for the desire for godly integrity; and secondly we must be single-minded in our focus. I pray that you and I will be diligent in prioritizing the things of God and eliminating anything that is a distraction; seeking Him first and seeking Him only.

In Christ,

Judy