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Last night, young people from several congregations
came to our house for a Bible study, which they
call a devotional.
"Devotional" is an expedient term, like "gospel
meeting", that describes the Bible study, which
is geared toward encouraging devotion to God.
During the study, we talked about what it means
to be devoted to God.
In this article, I want to share some of those
thoughts with you, and ask, "Are you devoted to
God?"
Devotion
The word "devotion" means profound dedication.
Paul, giving the reason he thought it would
be better not to marry during the present distress,
told the Corinthians it was for their benefit,
to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
- "This I say for your own benefit; not to
put a restraint upon you, but to promote what
is appropriate and to secure undistracted
devotion to the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:35).
Then in his second epistle, worried they could
be drawn away by false teachers, Paul again references
their devotion to Christ.
- "But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived
Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led
astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion
to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3).
Devoted by Keeping God's Commandments
As God's children, we are wholly devoted to the
Lord. Therefore, we keep His commandments.
Solomon, bringing the ark of the covenant into
the temple, called on the people to be wholly
devoted to God by keeping His commandments.
- "Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted
to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes
and to keep His commandments, as at this
day" (1 Ki. 8:61).
Later in life, Solomon turned away from God.
- "For when Solomon was old, his wives
turned his heart away after other gods;
and his heart was not wholly devoted to the
Lord his God, as the heart of David his
father had been" (1 Ki. 11:4).
Notice that Solomon was wholly devoted to God
when keeping His commandments. But when he turned
away to other gods, and no longer kept the commands
of the Lord, he was not devoted.
As God's children, we wholly devote ourselves
to God by keeping all His commandments.
We Can't Serve Two Masters
During the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us
we can't serve two masters. If we try, we'll be
devoted to one, and despise the other.
- "No one can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or
he will be devoted to one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and wealth"
(Matt. 6:24).
As Christians, we are devoted to many people
and the accomplishment of many tasks. But above
all, we are devoted to God.
We are devoted to the congregation, spouses,
children, jobs, neighbors, and our government.
But we don't serve any of them as our master.
We have one Master, who is God.
Devoted to Prayer
Because we are devoted to God, we devote ourselves
to prayer.
The apostles in Jerusalem asked the congregation
to select men to manage distribution of food to
needy widows, so they could devote themselves
to prayer, and ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).
As Christians, we are devoted to prayer, whereby
to stay alert and watch for our adversary, the
devil.
- "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping
alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving"
(Col. 4:2).
We constantly pray, steadfast in petitioning
God with thankful and grateful hearts.
- "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks; for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Th.
5:16-18).
Devoted to Brethren
As Christians, we're also devoted to brethren.
- "Be devoted to one another in brotherly
love; give preference to one another in
honor" (Rom. 12:10).
We're dedicated to serving one another, and
helping each other in every way possible. Indeed,
we are profoundly dedicated to one another.
Devoted to Every Good Work
To sum it all up, we are dedicated to every good
work.
In giving the qualifications of a widow who
could be put on the roll, Paul says she must have
"devoted herself to every good work" (1 Tim. 5:10).
As Christians, we devote ourselves to good works,
"which God prepared beforehand so that we would
walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
We are devoted to God. Therefore we keep His
commandments, and devote ourselves to every good
work.
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