Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, (Deuteronomy 11:13)

There is much ado about heartfelt religion. This, no doubt, is a reaction to some of the traditionalism and formalism that has characterized some churches. Sadly, what is promoted as heartfelt is more often sensationalism, emotionalism and charisma. To understand what it means to love and serve God with all his heart one must first understand what the heart is.

The heart encompasses one's intellect, emotions and will. Solomon says in Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. This shows that the heart includes the mind or the intellect. We read of Michal, David's wife despising David in her heart (2 Sam. 6:16). The heart, therefore, also includes a person's emotions. We learn also that Ananias and Saphira conceived their plan in their hearts (Acts 5:4). The heart then also includes man's will.

To serve God, then, with all of my heart, I must serve him with my intellect, emotions and my will. How does this play out? Testimony or evidence (God's Word) will change one's intellect. One's intellect, once informed, directs his emotions and together his emotions and intellect direct and determine his will.

This truth is perfectly illustrated in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11 ff. We see that “he came to himself”, that is his intellect was affected. His emotions are changed as he begins to think of home. He learns that there may be hope for him after all. Both of these together, his intellect and the emotion of hope, changed his will, ie. “He arose”.

True heartfelt religion is not the charismatic chaos we see in my churches today nor that which is “better felt than told.” It is the reaction of man's mind, emotions and will to the Word of God.