The Devoted Life

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.”