Faulty devotions

We started our morning overlooking the Sea of Galilee, considering the question: what does it mean to be devoted to the Lord? When I consider devotion to God, I have an image of being fully given over to Him. We are not able to attain perfect devotion, but we can be committed to following Him. How then do we know if we are devoted to God?

This week Matt has taught us that our faith is always looking for an object, well, I think this applies to our devotion as well. So maybe first we must ask where we look to place our devotion. As we walked through the ruins of Scythopolis, a Greco-Roman city, I began to visualize all that they would have been devoted to. The Romans were consumed with perfecting their mind, body, and spirit through education, entertainment, philosophy, sports and commerce. Sound familiar? With every step over the limestone and basalt cracked ruins, my heart was captivated by its fleeting beauty and also saddened by the familiarity of it all. I find the same things fighting for my own devotion. Comfort, self-righteousness, success– they all compete with my devotion to the Lord. If we are not careful, our devotion can quickly be caught in the trappings of this world.

The Romans weren't so different from you and I, we all want to be the best version of ourselves, "the best me I can be." These faulty devotions are nothing more than a trap and the only way to know if we've fallen into it is if we can see with true sight, that only comes from God. We all want our lives to matter, so why is it so hard to trust that the Lord knows what's best for us? His success is greater than ours. And faithfulness to Him yields life!

As I leave this place, my prayer is that I (and we) remember that faithfulness requires submission to something greater, it requires devotion.

"Our hearts only have room for one all embracing devotion. Our hearts can cleave only to one Lord." - D. Bonhoeffer

Karly Manuel