Give Thyself Wholly!
“Meditate upon these things; give yourself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”
When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, I imagine Paul thinking about all he had taught Timothy. Would Timothy apply and use the knowledge?
One such teaching would be “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with ALL thine heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy might.” We are to love Him with all of ourselves; we are to give ourselves WHOLLY to Him.
Throughout the Bible, God will bless or withhold blessings according to how much the people of God gave of themselves to Him. Wholly is defined: entirely; totally; altogether; to the whole amount or extent; completely; exclusively; solely.
Numbers 32:11 is one example:
“Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have NOT wholly followed me.”
Since they did not give themselves wholly unto God’s will, God could not give the fullness of His blessings,
“Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.” Numbers 32:12
Similarly, in II Chr. 15, Israel was estranged from God, without a teaching priest and without law. They were not giving themselves WHOLLY to Him! Once Asa heard the prophet, Azariah, he took courage and had all of the idols thrown out of the country. According to verse 13 “and they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers will ALL their heart and with ALL their soul;”
Verse 15 says “All Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with ALL their heart, and sought him with their WHOLE desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.”
Jesus warned about not giving yourself wholly to the things of God. In Matthew 5, He warned that if anything tempts you, cut if off or pluck it out!
Luke 11:36 says: “If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”
Darkness is the absence of light, if you are full and given WHOLLY to God, then no darkness can be in you.
Matthew 6:24 says
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
You either give yourself wholly to the world… or you give yourself WHOLLY to God!
People tend to dip into the carnal and then come to church to dip into the divine but Jesus said in Revelation 3:15 & 16 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”
God expects us to give ourselves a living sacrifice, a complete submission like He did when He was manifested into the flesh of Christ Jesus, he gave ALL of Himself into that flesh. “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead Bodily!” (Col 2:9) With God it is still ALL OR NOTHING! Jesus did not deal in halves or parts… When He healed, He made them WHOLE!
The woman with the issue of the blood in Matthew 9:21, the man with the withered hand in Matthew 12:10, the blind man in Mark chapter 10 Jesus’ response was “Thy faith hath made thee WHOLE!” Jesus does not do a partial work in anyone! If you haven’t received all of your healing or you’re still waiting be encouraged: “in the day that you seek him with your whole heart, then will you find him.”
