Psalm 119:10 - “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.” 

We all know things we are supposed to do in life. There are rules to keep us in line and obedient. Growing up, we became accustomed to hearing rules set by our parents. We knew we needed to clean our room. We knew we needed to take out the trash. We knew we needed to take our turn washing the dishes. If we didn’t obey, there would be consequences and we would get punished in some way. 

I’m guessing most of us didn’t grow up with an enthusiastic attitude toward doing these chores and possibly many others we were asked to do. As years grow on us, we hopefully come to grasp the idea of being a servant and doing things with a glad and sincere heart. Maybe we grow with more of a desire to do these things not only for our parents, but for others out of an attitude of service. 

There’s a difference between doing something out of obligation and doing something because you want to. This passage describes someone who sets out to seek God with their heart. Hopefully this passage describes you in that you desire God and seek Him with all your heart. When we truly seek Him and desire to follow Him completely, our lives will stray less and less. 

The more we read, the more we put into practice in our daily walk with Christ, the more we grow in His image. This desire grows inside of us and we seek to do nothing more than follow Him and be obedient. This doesn’t come from an obligation, but from a sincere desire in the relationship we have with Him. When you really want to do something, you show strong desire. When we have a sincere desire to follow Christ, that desire will shine and be visible to others. 

Do we find ourselves asking this question from childhood into our relationship with God, “Do I have to??” Or do we find ourselves going from “having to” to “wanting to” with following God? Our relationship with Him must be a sincere desire to follow; otherwise it’s merely obligation and no true desire.