It's All Or Nothing

Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. [Ezekiel 3.10] 

Question: Why "all my words"?

Answer: Because God knew man would gravitate to the Words of God that were most pleasing or palatable or made sense at that time. 

God knew this to be true even in the prophet Ezekiel! How much more so with us?

It is important that we make "all God's words" (God's entire Word) our priority. It is impossible to know God's character and purpose otherwise.

Jesus confirmed this.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! [Matthew 13.44-46]

It is no secret that Jesus also said:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24, Mark 8.34, Luke 9.23]

Jesus IS "all my words" when it comes to God.

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! [John 5.39] 

Who'd have thought we would get to Jesus so easily from Ezekiel? Even from Ezekiel, we find Jesus and wholehearted, sold-out faithfulness taught! Will we hear it?

The world teaches us that religion is okay as long as one keeps one foot grounded in the world and its ways (idolatry). But, from the First Commandment to Jesus, we see that the world's ways simply don't meet God's requirements. God requires that we have all His words (Jesus) in our hearts. And, Jesus demands that we forsake all our own ways to follow Him. The entire Bible is consistent in this message - It's all or nothing.

Father, help us to give ourselves 100% to You. So be it.