{"id":2927,"date":"2023-03-10T15:26:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T15:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/?p=2927"},"modified":"2026-10-22T19:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T19:12:34","slug":"half-heartedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/?p=2927","title":{"rendered":"Half-Heartedness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Joshua 14:7-9, 13-14\u00a0\u201cForty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children\u2019s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.\u00a0And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. \u201c<\/em><\/strong><br><br>As a child going to Sunday school and junior church, one of my favorite songs to sing was Twelve Men Went to Spy in Canaan. \u00a0I remember really emphasizing the motions of 10 were BAD (with a vigorous thumbs DOWN) and 2 were good (with a hearty thumbs UP). \u00a0As I grew older, I learned the seriousness of this story and saw the result of the unbelief of the BAD spies, teaching me the lesson of the importance of trusting what God says. \u00a0How sad and tragic unbelief can be! Because of the slanderous report brought back to Moses by the spies about the Land of Promise, the people of Israel were swayed to not move ahead and take the land; thus, they were judged by God and forced to wander in the wilderness for the next forty years.<br>The above verses mention \u201cthe heart\u201d of Caleb (verse 7) and \u201cthe heart\u201d of the people (verse 8). \u00a0Two times in this text the phrase is mentioned that Caleb \u201cwholly followed the LORD.\u201d The word wholly as defined by Webster\u2019s 1828 Dictionary as follows<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>completely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>fully<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>without reserve<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sincerely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Now it carries the meaning of thoroughly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this context, Caleb is 85 years old now and giving his testimony of why he survived the wilderness wanderings and avoided death as the other spies. \u00a0He makes it clear that he had something that began in his heart (verse 7). For us to really make a difference in this world and for the Lord, it must begin in the heart. \u00a0Belief in God starts down deep in the heart for salvation but also for the life of service. Then, he makes it clear that this belief was one of being whole-hearted. He unashamedly speaks of him following the LORD with all of his heart!<br>There are too many people that put in half-hearted efforts in the classroom, in the music realm, in athletics, and for that matter, in life in general. \u00a0What\u2019s worse is when the Christian does the same in his work for the Lord. \u00a0How can I settle for less than a whole-hearted living for the One who died and gave His life for me? \u00a0How can we really make a difference if we put only half of our efforts into something? Years ago, someone said it to me this way in a sermon, and I have never forgotten it: \u201cHalf-heartedness is trying to serve God in such a way so as to not offend the devil.\u201d \u00a0My prayer for Christians, members of our churches, those in Bible college, and for our youth in particular is this \u2013 get a genuine belief in God down deep in your heart, and let that belief stir you to go all-out for God.<br><br>What if a husband or a wife made a promise at the wedding altar to be 85% or 90% faithful to that spouse? \u00a0How foolish does this sound? This wedding most likely would never happen. There is an understanding at that point, especially, that this wedding and union is one of total commitment (in sickness and in death, for richer or poorer, etc). \u00a0How much more foolish does the Christian give half-heartedness in his service for the Lord!<br><br>ILLUSTRATIONS<br>\u201cA woman rushed up to famed violinist Fritz Kreisler after a concert and cried: \u2018I\u2019d give my life to play as beautifully as you do.\u2019 Kreisler replied, \u2018I did.\u201d<br>Bits &amp; Pieces, Vol. F, No. 41.<br><br>\u201cI think of David Livingstone, the pioneer missionary to Africa, who walked over 29,000 miles. His wife died early in their ministry and he faced stiff opposition from his Scottish brethren. He ministered half blind. His kind of perseverance spurs me on. \u00a0As I run, I remember the words in his diary: Send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from any tie but the tie that binds me to Your service and to Your heart.\u201d<br>Joseph Stowell, Through The Fire, Victor Books, p. 150<br><br>\u201cA missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, \u2018Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.\u2019 Livingstone wrote back, \u2018If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don\u2019t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.\u201d\u2019<br>Good News Broadcaster, April, 1985, \u00a0p. 12<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"164\" height=\"164\" src=\"https:\/\/yplife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/eric-ramos-1.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5969\" style=\"width:124px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yplife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/eric-ramos-1.webp 164w, https:\/\/yplife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/eric-ramos-1-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/yplife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/eric-ramos-1-100x100.webp 100w, https:\/\/yplife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/eric-ramos-1-75x75.webp 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 164px) 100vw, 164px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric Ramos | Evangelist<br>Fairhaven Baptist Church | Chesterton, Indiana\u00a0<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairhavenbaptist.org\">https:\/\/www.fairhavenbaptist.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joshua 14:7-9, 13-14\u00a0\u201cForty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"0","layout":"no-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"0","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_food_recipe":[],"enable_food_recipe":"0","food_recipe_title":"","food_recipe_description":"","food_recipe_serve":"","food_recipe_time":"","food_recipe_prep":"","food_recipe_level":"","food_recipe_keywords":"","food_recipe_category":"","food_recipe_cuisine":"","food_recipe_yield":"","food_recipe_calories":"","enable_print_recipe":"0","ingredient":[{"item":""}],"instruction":"","jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_podcast_option":{"enable_podcast":"0","podcast_duration":"","upload":""},"jnews_podcast_series":null,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,28,24],"tags":[462,995,180,1015,1016,54,317],"jnews-series":[],"class_list":["post-2927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4-the-yp","category-youth-truth","category-yp-wife","tag-eric-ramos","tag-fairhaven-baptist","tag-god","tag-half-hearted","tag-wholly","tag-youthtruth","tag-yplife"],"featured_image_src":"","blog_images":{"medium":"","large":""},"ams_acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2927"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5970,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2927\/revisions\/5970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2927"},{"taxonomy":"jnews-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yplife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fjnews-series&post=2927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}