David Jeremiah (June 25, 2025) Daily Devotional: A Whole Heart
Then Jesus said to the twelve [disciples], “Do you also want to go away?” - John 6:67
Recommended Reading: Luke 9:57-62 - 57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Robert Boyd Munger was a Presbyterian minister who preached a memorable sermon in 1954 that has become a Christian classic. “My Heart—Christ’s Home” portrayed a new Christian leading Jesus Christ on a tour of his home (his heart) with Christ helping to remove clutter and distractions as they went. In the end, the Christian signed over the title of his home (his heart) to Christ for safekeeping. The theme was obvious to Munger’s listeners: We must love God with our whole heart.
On more than one occasion, Jesus presented His disciples and followers with situations in which they might have to consider: Am I willing to continue following Christ with my whole heart? After a particularly challenging teaching (John 6), many of His followers stopped following Him (verse 66). So Jesus turned to the twelve and asked if they too were ready to turn away. Peter spoke for the group: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (verse 68).
If the cost of following Jesus ever seems too high, ask yourself Peter’s question: Where could you go and find the words of eternal life?
My name, my heart, I would resign; my soul in to thy hands. - Philip Doddridge
