He won't relent until He has it all

Alright. Since this is the first entry, I figured I'd explain the title of this blog--Relentless. The song "You Won't Relent" has become very beloved for us as a youth group.

And for a long time, I didn't even realize that the words to this song come straight out of Scripture itself:

"Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it..." Song of Solomon 8:6,7

These beautiful words are contained in the book of the Bible that is a passionate love letter between a husband and wife--between King Solomon and his bride. But perhaps the most profound and amazing thing, is that these words are not limited to an earthly husband and wife. Rather, at the heart of the Song of Solomon, is a message of God's love for us--of Christ's love for His Bride, the Church. And this Heavenly Romance is at the very center of all of Scripture. It's such a profound mystery that I have only begun to scratch the surface of it.

But the lyric to "You Won't Relent" that gripped my heart from the very first time I heard it (maybe because of the season I was in, or certain things God was speaking to my heart at the time) is the part that says "You won't relent until You have it all, my heart is Yours." According to Webster, to be relentless means "showing no signs of slackening or yielding in one's purpose." You see, God wants our hearts--our whole hearts.

"...'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" Matt 22:37-39

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Isaiah 29:13

"Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart." Psalm 119:2 

What I'm finding is that God won't stop breaking away all the things that hold our hearts other than
Him, all the wordly things--the idols--that keep us from walking even more intimately with our Savior. He is RELENTLESS in this, showing no signs of giving up in His purpose. God wants nothing more from us than for us to love Him with all of our heart. Even more than our church attendance, more than our tithes, more than our music preference. One of the most frustrating things to see is someone trust in Christ for salvation, but then their walk with their Savior ends there. From the time we are saved, God begins to mold us, to shape us, to make us more like Him. And that involves a breaking away from the world that used to hold our heart. So God begins to break us away from the world, piece by piece, bit by bit. And for our entire lives, He
continues to break us of the worldly things. And He won't relent until He is finished, until He has our whole heart.

When God breaks us of the parts of the world we hold so dear, it hurts. But for some reason, we've bought into the lie that it's going to be easy when we say "Yes" to God. He continues to chip away at our heart until He holds all of it, breaking away all the parts of our old selves, breaking away all the parts that are not like Him. And though it hurts, I promise you it is worth it. There is a greater Joy, a greater Peace, a greater Love than anything this world has to offer. Jesus is Joy, He is Peace, He is Love. And so much more.

God wants your heart. And He won't relent until He has it all.

So trust Him with it. He will not lead you astray.