By Frank Vondracek
The word devotion means “ardent attachment or loyalty”. This is exactly the word that ought to describe every Christian’s relationship to God through Jesus Christ. A person’s life ought to change when he obeys the gospel. Life ought to become more and more God-centered and less and less world and self-centered. Some of the songs we sing teach us to be always in transition from self to the image of God’s Son, such as “None of Self and All of Thee”. Other songs suggest the total commitment the Lord desires of His people, such as “All To Jesus I Surrender”. These songs reflect the Lord’s teachings on the essentiality of counting the cost of discipleship (Luke 9:57-62; Luke 14:26-33). Whenever the clutter of our lives begins to interfere with putting God and His kingdom first (Matthew 6:33), Jesus Christ our Lord expects the Christian to employ proper devotion to Him in order to give Him first priority. Always! To place any other consideration first is to show oneself unworthy to be His disciple (Matthew 10:37-38).
There are certain hard sayings of the Lord, but never are they harsh or unreasonable sayings (Romans 12:1). Only God knows about everything of which our lives consist. Therefore, whenever Jesus Christ teaches, commands, requires, demands, expects and leads us to do even difficult things with our lives, it is always because He never puts His Father's desire for us to inherit heaven out of His mind. We often forget, it seems, our goal of wanting heaven for our eternal home. This causes us sometimes to function and make decisions by a changing priority list. When we stop and think about it, we can see what the choice is which is in harmony with putting God first. But in the activities of living, forgetfulness can creep in and cause us to change priorities, even but for a little while. Jesus demands full devotion ALWAYS, and this does not allow for priority lists with Him other than first. We may try and yet fail. Jesus knows all this. On the other hand, we may willfully disregard the Lord’s teaching and requirements. God will know this also.
Devotion is a matter of attitude. And attitude is a matter of the heart. The biblical heart consists of one’s will, emotions, intellect, and some will add, the conscience. We are given a conscience to police our heart’s desires, decisions and choices. The conscience is trained by what we learn, know and believe. So much care must be taken in being guided by the conscience. However, the instrument of the conscience is such an important aspect of our existence that we are told by Scripture that if we violate our conscience, we sin (Romans 14:23). We must learn the mind of Christ as it has been revealed, be stirred in our spirit by what we learn, and give our own will up in favor of His. This is not an easy assignment or process. Much momentary sorrow can even be experienced. And yet it is an obtainable goal. No Christian should be satisfied with his effort to achieve this if it is less than a full effort. And who will say they cannot do any better? Again, a key concept comes up—ALWAYS!
When Jesus teaches about worship, He says, “God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The “in truth” Jesus had in mind was His revealed will for the church as recorded in the New Testament. The “in spirit” was that one’s worship of God is a matter of one’s heart. One’s spirit determines one’s attitude that is demonstrated by one’s devotion to God. The psalmist wrote, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him” (Psalm 89:7). Since this is true, then what sort of devotion is displayed when one comes in the presence of God in a casual, nonchalant, indifferent, uncommitted manner? To approach God in worship with less than the best we have to offer in every respect is not right. If we come to worship God dressed for a picnic or a night out for entertainment, how can our hearts be in any other frame? Oh, yes, the condition and “dress” of our hearts is our most important attire, but how we present ourselves before God, into whose presence we come to worship Him, whether congregationally or privately is important, as well. Our appearance says a lot about whom we have come to see and what we have come to do—the intentions of our hearts. To leave in the midst of worship because we have ‘more important things to do’ might be taken as an insult by the Object of our worship, and it is a distraction to the other worshippers, too. It at least shows a lack of disciplined planning. While many of the mundane affairs of life have a certain importance, not a one, NOT A ONE, is more important than worshipping the only One who is worthy of man’s devotion and worship (Revelation 4:11).
Devotion tells it all. And one’s devotion is seen by how one behaves in his relationship and service to God. Something to think about, right?
Frank Vondracek is a former engineer who started preaching full time in mid-1983. He has preached with churches in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Kentucky. He served as one of the elders with the Kimberly Road church in Davenport, Iowa. He presently preaches for the church in Tompkinsville, KY. He also has been involved in preaching the gospel in Kenya, East Africa since 1996. He can be contacted at frankv832@alltel.net.