But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29
Where is there? Our Scripture says that “But from there”. Well, where I took this verse from was in context of the Lord telling the Children of Israel, that they will reach the Promised Land, but once there they will once again start to serve other gods, at which point the Lord would scatter them amongst other nations. It is from that distress of being foreigners in a foreign land will they turn and seek God. You might be asking yourselves; how does this pertain to me? The answer is this: we all have screwed up regarding our worship and service to God, and in that we have felt lost and distressed. It is in those moments that we should seek God for relief. God is saying, because you do not want to keep a devoted life to Him you will fail and be scattered like the Children of Israel. Not scattered in the sense that you will run to another physical place, but that you will run from God to other gods, mainly the god that is yourself.
To get a better feel for what I am trying to convey about having a devoted life, let us look at what devotion is.
Lance Armstrong was a phenomenal cyclist who has won the Tour De France for a record seven consecutive times, and that was after having survived cancer! I am going to put the doping scandal aside because it does not negate the devotional aspect I am trying to convey.
One of the keys to his success as an athlete has been his single-minded devotion to training. He has an unusual willingness to suffer physically, to push his mind and body to the limit, to prepare himself to win. Listen to this passage from his book which describes his preparations for the 1999 Tour De France:
"I went back to training. I rode, and I rode, and I rode. I rode like I had never ridden, punishing my body up and down every hill I could find. I remember one day in particular, May 3, a raw European spring day, biting cold. I steered my bike into the Alps, with Johan following in a car. By now it was sleeting and 32 degrees. I didn’t care. We stood at the roadside and looked at the view and the weather, and Johan suggested that we skip it. I said, "No. Let’s do it." I rode for seven straight hours, alone. To win the Tour I had to be willing to ride when no one else would ride."
That is a good definition of devotion. Here is another one. Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, once had captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, the monarch asked the prisoner, “What will you give me if I release you?” I’ll give you half of my wealth,” was his reply. “And if I release your children?” The prince says, “I will give you everything I possess.” “And what would you give if I release your wife?” Without hesitation the prince says, “Your Majesty, I will give myself.” Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all. As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, “Wasn’t Cyrus a handsome man!”
With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, “I didn’t notice. I could only keep my eyes on you—the one who was willing to give himself for me.”
If I were to ask you what YOU were devoted to – how would you answer that question? The evidence may be plain to see. Some people are devoted to their jobs – have not missed a day in years. Some are devoted to their mate or kids, and they make great sacrifices for them. Some are devoted to sports – and you can tell it by the clothes they wear and how much time and money they spend on it. Some are devoted to reading or entertainment or having a good time. Whatever it is you are devoted to will affect your time, how you spend your money, and what you think about.
I wondered what Jesus was devoted to. As I thought about it – I had to conclude that He was devoted to us. He was willing to give His life for us. That is devotion. The only thing He said about devotion was this:
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Luke 16:13
Have you noticed that whatever a person is devoted to takes up most of his life? The thing he is devoted to becomes his god. God wants us to be devoted to the right things. We are to be devoted to Him – and then He tells us how to express our devotion to Him - by being devoted to certain things. Devotion to God is expressed in devotion to these things. Before I share those things with you – let me share with you what some great people in the Bible were devoted to.
First, let us look and see what Ezra was devoted to. The Bible says,
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Ezra 7:10
Devoted to studying the Bible and obeying God. That’s pretty good. He was also devoted to teaching the Bible. Not a bad set of things to be devoted to. Studying the Bible and teaching it to others. We would do well to follow Ezra’s example.
Second, let us look at Nehemiah. Here is his testimony.
Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s provisions. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people,
and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God. Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work.
Nehemiah 5:14-16
Nehemiah devoted himself to rebuilding the city of God. That is another way of expressing devotion to God, devoting yourself to doing God’s work.
Third, let us look at a man after God’s own heart – King David. He says,
Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; For I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am holy; You are my God; Save Your servant who trusts in You! Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long.
Psalm 86:1-3
David says he is devoted to God. How does he express that devotion? By trusting God and praying constantly.
One last example, David’s son, Solomon. Solomon says,
And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.
Ecclesiastes 1:13
Solomon became a full-time student. He devoted himself to learning. Unfortunately, he went to the wrong teachers and left God out of the process eventually. He became a bitter, disillusioned old man who died apart from God. For all his devotion to learning and although he was the world’s wisest man, he did not learn that the wise person remains ignorant about some things. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians,
For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.
Romans 16:19
Are you beginning to understand what it means to be devoted? The dictionary defines it like this:
To concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, cause, etc., to set apart or dedicate. to commit to something.
I do not think the Christian can be a Christian without being devoted to Jesus. He can talk the talk – but not walk the walk. We must be devoted to God above all. But there are a few things the Bible tells us to be devoted to as well. Maybe our devotion to God is expressed by our devotion by these things.
The first thing we are to devote ourselves to, and maybe the most important thing, is prayer. Paul writes the Christians in the Colossi church,”
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
Colossians 4:2
One of the things the early Christians were devoted to was prayer, Acts 2:42 tells us this. I am not sure how that was done. Certainly, each of them must have had a strong and consistent personal prayer life. I think they probably started their day with prayers. Maybe they ended it with prayer as well. King David said He prayed morning, noon, and night. It was Daniel’s habit of praying three times a day. That is devotion! And maybe that is where we get the idea of daily devotions – from being devoted to this thing of speaking with our God and Savior daily.
What does it mean to you to “devote yourself to prayer”? I must confess I am not as devoted as David and Daniel. I begin my day with prayer – and often end it with a few praises. But I think we can all do better at this thing.
Prayer ought not to be hard or difficult. It ought to be natural. I used to think prayer took devotion and disciple and dedication. But I soon came to understand that once you have the devotion, the others just come along for the ride. It’s like our devotion to a loved one, it really takes no effort to talk with them. That is how our devotion to Jesus should be…just a conversation. Otherwise, you will find your prayers superficial and shallow. Pray on purpose. Discipline yourself to pray. I think that is what it means to “devote yourself to prayer.”
Secondly, we are to devote ourselves to Bible Study. Paul wrote Timothy,
Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1 Timothy 4:13
If there is one thing that has had the most influence on my spiritual walk, I would have to say it is my devotion to the Scriptures. For some 20 years I have consistently read the Scripture every day. It took me about 10 months to read the New Testament through and a couple of years to read the Old Testament through. That means I have read the Bible through and through a lot of times. But you know what? It is still fresh and relevant today. I need its’ strength every day. I need the guidance and instruction that it provides. I need to be reminded over and over of God’s goodness. I need to remember that I am eternal in Christ Jesus, and I need to think about God’s promises every day. As the Children of Israel fed upon the manna from heaven every day – we need to feed on God’s Word. Devote yourself to it. It is the source of your spiritual strength.
Thirdly, we are to devote ourselves to one another. The bible says,
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
Romans 12:10
Why do you think the Bible tells us to devote ourselves to others? Could it be, that by nature – we are not? By nature, we are devoted to ourselves and doing our will and getting what we want. It is not in our nature to be sacrificial. We want others to meet our needs. Look at our generation today. Most of them don’t want to have children. Citing reasons like they are afraid to bring up a child in a world like this, they worry about climate change and its effect on the child, they’re afraid of passing on some mental or physical issue to the child, and some just don’t have any reason. But do you want to the real reason: They value their sleep, freedom, and personal goals more than having children, because that would mean sacrifice…they are devoted to no one but themselves.
I want you to realize that God is asking you to devote yourself to caring about people…He started it out by telling us to be fruitful and multiple. Yes, that includes having children so that you can really learn and understand what sacrifice means. He wants you to love them. He wants you to honor them. He wants you to stop being selfish and self-centered and choose to focus on others. It is the second greatest commandment. We get so busy wrapped up in ourselves and our wants. Stop it! Devote yourself to God and to others. I do not know what that means to you. For each of us it may be a little different. But there is the command. God wants you to ‘devote’ yourself to others.
One last thing. We are to devote ourselves to doing good. Paul writes,
This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
Titus 3:8
We are to be devoted to being good. We were created for it, Ephesians 2:10 says. Doing good is a kind of a generic cover all. “Just be good!” Devote yourself to doing the right thing. Again, that is a personal thing. You may devote yourself to doing some good things, and I may be devoted to doing other good things. The bottom line is to be devoted; commit; dedicate yourself to always do the right thing.
You are to be a devoted person. You are to dedicate yourself to; 1. Recognizing and serving God, 2. Praying, 3. Studying the Scripture, 4. Loving others, 5. Doing good.
This is God’s will for you. This is your challenge. With God’s help you can do it. Are you willing to be a devoted Christian?
