The Wanderer

Yesterday was another long day. Every year the staff reports back to work a week before the students do to get everything ready. As the principal, I meet with all the teachers the Thursday before school starts to cover policies and procedures. It is long and boring, but necessary. Every year we discuss wanderers--those students who like to "wander around aimlessly" instead of going to class.
This morning as I was reading the Scriptures, I came across Psalm 119:10, where the Psalmist said, "With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!" It dawned on me that the reason students wander aimlessly from classes is really the same reason you and I wander from God's Word. Students that wander aimlessly really don't have their whole heart in whatever class or subject they are trying to get out of.

Duh!! This is the same problem we have with the Word of God. When we find ourselves wandering it is because we have less than a whole heart for God. David had a whole heart for God, so despite the times he sinned against God, he was still a man after God's own heart. Solomon, his son, had half a heart for God. By the time his life was ending, he was being led away from God. Rehoboam, Solomon's son and David's grandson, had no heart for God and strayed completely away from God.
Over the years, I have seen this to be true in my life and in many others around me. When I let my heart grow distant from God and His Word, I wandered down paths that led me far from Him. Returning to God is so much harder. So many today believe that the reason people don't want to renew the relationship with God that once was so strong is because of external thing. People use excuses about music, attire, comfort, church leadership, hypocrites, etc. to inform me as to why people choose to not come back to God. The real truth is a heart problem.
Truth be know, the Bible has always been able to point out the fact the "all we like sheep have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). We are wandering fools with restless hearts who don't stay hitched to God's Word. Anything that we really cherish, we put our whole heart into, and a relationship with God is much the same. If you want to become a truly devoted follower of Christ and stop wandering off then give God your whole heart!

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