Commitment matters.
Just ask anyone who has ever had their spouse be unfaithful to them. Our covenant with Yehova is referred to throughout scripture as a marriage covenant. There is a reason for this, and the use of terms like adultery and whoring [yes!! in the scriptures!!] to describe a lack of commitment is not accidental.

Here is what I’d like to ask today.
“How much commitment is enough commitment?”
If we claim to be Torah Observant, does that require us to be 50% obedient? Does it require us to be 90% obedient?
How do we define this idea?
Where is the line between Torah Observant and Torah Lukewarm?

We could propose this question to the masses, and many hours would be spent by men and women sharing their thoughts on the matter.
But in all things, we should find our guidance in scripture.
And, yes, we do receive guidance on this concept.
Let’s check it out:

Yehova gives us this test in Deuteronomy 13
…for Yehova your Elohim is testing you, to find out whether you love Yehova your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁵ Yehova your Elohim you will follow and Him you will fear. His mitzvot you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling.

Yes, we are being tested.
Each and every day.
Will we follow Him?
Will we fear Him?
Will we keep His commands [mitzvot]?
Will we listen to Him?
Will we serve Him?
Will we cling to Him?

We see a similar test in 1John 2:3-6
³ Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of Yehova is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

How much do we need to follow/serve/listen/cling/obey in order to walk the narrow path?
We see this in Numbers, and there are other similar references:
Numbers 32:11
 ‘The men who came out of Egypt, from 20 years old and upward, will not see the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for they have not followed after Me with a whole heart— ¹² except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they were wholehearted after Yehova.’

We see this in too many places to count:
Deuteronomy 12:28
Take care and listen to ALL these words that I am commanding you, so that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of Yehova your Elohim.

Deuteronomy 29:28 is especially telling:
²⁸ “The secret things belong to Yehova our Elohim, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever—in order to do all the words of this Torah.”

This tells us that we don’t have to understand everything.
We don’t have to have logical reasons for doing things.
This verse tells us, whether we understand or not, that we are to do ALL the words of this Torah.

We see a similar finding in Ecclesiastes 12 when Solomon tells us the whole duty of mankind:
A final word, when all has been heard:
    Fear Yehova and keep His Commands!
For this applies to all mankind.

Yehova has told us His exectation>
We are to obey everything that He commands.
Not to earn our salvation, as it is a gift.
We are to obey His ways, because the scriptures tell us over and over again that is how He will know if we love Him.

So, again, how much should we commit?
A little?
A lot?
Completely?

Messiah tells us this:
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.

The expectation is that we obey ALL He has commanded.
Not some of it.
Not the parts we like.
But simply ALL of it.

Do the scriptures tell us about anyone who followed partially?
Take a look at the account of the man who defiled the Sabbath.
Keep this in mind:
This man lived among the nation of Israel.
This man was “Torah Observant”
This man observed and honored many Sabbaths up to this point.

Numbers 15:32-36
³² While Bnei-Yisrael were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Shabbat.
³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron and the entire assembly. ³⁴ They kept him under arrest, not being clear what was to be done to him.
³⁵ Yehova said to Moses, “The man has to die. The whole assembly is to stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So the whole assembly took him outside the camp. They stoned him with stones. He died just as Yehova commanded Moses.

Did this guy get credit for the many Sabbaths he properly observed?
No, he got stoned to death for the Sabbath he defiled.
Is this unfair?
Was he given proper warning?
Exodus 31:12-17
¹² Then Yehova spoke to Moses saying, ¹³ “Speak now to Bnei-Yisrael saying, ‘Surely you must keep My Shabbatot, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so you may know that I am Yehova who sanctifies you. ¹⁴ Therefore you are to keep the Shabbat, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it will die, for whoever does any work during Shabbat, that soul will be cut off from the midst of his people. ¹⁵ Work is to be done for six days, but on the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, holy to Yehova. Whoever does any work on the Shabbat will surely be put to death. ¹⁶ So Bnei-Yisrael is to keep the Shabbat, to observe the Shabbat throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign between Me and Bnei-Yisrael forever, for in six days Yehova made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested.”

Yes, this man was properly trained and had sufficient warning.
He chose to disobey the word of Yehova, and he paid with his life.
Does this mean he will not be granted salvation?  This is not for me to say, and only Messiah has the authority to decide such things.
Here is what I know, though:
We are to follow Yehova wholly and completely.
We are to do His right-rulings every time.
Is it ok to keep the Sabbath most of the time, unless something comes up?
What if family comes to town and wants to eat out?
What if a friend gives you free tickets to the college football game?
What if an airline ticket is cheaper for travel on the Sabbath than for other days?
What if you really have to get some work done, just this one time?

Men and women can come up with a million different ways to defile the Sabbath, and even worse, they can come up with a million different ways to justify their disobedience.
Is Yehova an overbearing dictator?
If this is how you see Him, you may want to pray about it.
Going back to Deuteronomy 29 [“The secret things belong to Yehova our Elohim, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever—in order to do all the words of this Torah.”] we see that it is our responsibility to do the things He said.  His reasoning for it is not up for debate.  If we love Yehova, if we serve Him, if we are submitted to Him, then we simply say, “Yes, I will do as you ask.”
If you find yourself not doing simply as He asks, because of life, may I ask you to please pray about it.
Fully submit.
Fully follow Him.
Please do not make exceptions, because He is not asking.
He has commanded what we will or will not do.
Let’s end with this:
1John 5:2-5
² We know that we love Yehova’s children by this—when we love Yehova and obey His commandments. ³ For this is the love of Yehova—that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For everyone born of Yehova overcomes the world. And the victory that has overcome the world is this—our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world, if not the one who believes that Yeshua is Ben-Elohim?

Please know that I did not write this article to criticize anyone.
If you perform some self-evaluation and find that you follow partially, please pray about it.
This article is meant to encourage you to take stock and to see what Yehova expects of us.  This article is meant to establish a standard as Yehova has set it in scripture.  Let’s all do our very best to accept this standard and follow it.