Yesterday we met with the covenant community in Tromsø. I had been asked to give a teaching on being wholehearted. I decided not to give teaching in the normal way. In stead we just went to the Scripture, read together some passages and had a dialogue about the content. Since we had many different versions of the Bible among us we were able to see the passages from many perspectives.

We discovered that the same Hebrew or Greek words were translated in different ways the very same Bible and not only in the different versions of the Bible. However, some versions were more consistent than others.

As the title of this entry suggest, blameless, perfect, wholehearted, willing are all translated from the same word. It can be understood as being without moral faults or a word to indicate the degree of loyalty or devotion to God. Deuteronomy 18:13 for example has been translated many different ways: Be wholehearted towards the Lord. Be blameless before the Lord. Be perfect before the Lord. Be completely faithful to the Lord. Be undivided in your service of the Lord. Be faultless in your relationship with the Lord.
We discovered that it all has to do with being whole, upright, relying on Him only. A whole heart is seen in our undivided loyalty to God.
David prayed for a clean and undivided heart. God promised through the prophets that he would give his new covenant people a new heart with a new Spirit inside causing them to do the will of God and living a life of integrity.