Pure Devotion

One of my favorite Christian songs from the 1980s is entitled “A Heart Like Mine” by Bryan Duncan. I had not heard it much over the years until recently when I tuned my car radio to one of the newest Christian stations in our area. Along with this track, this radio station is playing many of the songs I grew up with, selections whose focus is more God-centered than much of what is called Christian music today. It is a refreshing change to return to those days when music was intended for ministry rather than the marketing of new talent to make money for the industry. Forgive me for the digression.

            This particular song strikes a chord within me because of its inward call for one’s love for the Lord to be borne out of pure devotion. Indeed, the connection between love and devotion is a strand that has been cut in the minds of many in our time. It is the reason for the lack of longevity in marriages. It is in the background of couples who do not choose to solidify their relationships in marriage, who prefer to live in the sin of cohabitation, even siring and raising children who will not have the benefit of knowing parents who had a concrete, lifetime bond together. Then, to go one step further, this whole “love/devotion” concept is perverted by the Enemy who promotes abnormal relationships that are counter to the Creator’s original design of the male-female biological paradigm. The culture may teach that such associations are legitimate, but the Lord of Lords has deemed otherwise.

            This love-devotion link should be paramount within the marriage relationship so as to strengthen the ties between husband and wife, the man and the woman, for their benefit and their children’s, if God has provided any. It should also be the operational norm within our personal relationship with our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. We should not only love Him “with all of our heart, soul, and mind” (Matt. 22:37 New American Standard Version), but also be devoted to Him in all of our actions and attitudes. It is the combination of these two things that reveals to an unbelieving world that we are serious about our faith in Christ. We are not just Christians in name only; at least, that is not what we should be. Many are. Their supposed faith is only “skin deep”. Cut them and they will bleed cowardice. Persecute them and their supposed faith will run away like water in the desert heat, vanishing in a moment. This is one of the types of supposed faith to which Jesus was referring in His parable of the Sower and the Seed (Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23). The true faith is the one that takes root and produces the fruit of devotion and love unto the Lord.

            As we look into the mirror of our lives and souls, we must ask ourselves these penetrating questions. Do I love the Lord “with all my heart, soul and mind”, with every ounce of my being? Does He have my total devotion as seen by the actions and attitudes I exhibit in my life daily? Or are my attentions focused elsewhere or on myself rather than on Him?

            At least, the Lord is merciful and gives us ample opportunity, not only for reflection, but also for repentance. If the questions and their answers have “pricked” our hearts, may we not shy away from the truth, but take the truth to Him immediately for reconciliation and forgiveness, knowing that we will always find Him ready to restore us to the place where we can begin again on a path of love and devotion for Him.