Devoted

The house was large enough—and the marriage cold enough—that the husband and wife could claim the same address but barely toss each other an occasional glance.

Both were devoted to their jobs, working long hours, doing more than expected. Both devoted themselves to their children. Interviewers captured sound bytes that repeated, “It’s all about the children. Everything I do is for the children.” The unspoken sound byte? “It’s none about the marriage. Nothing I do is for the marriage.”

But a marriage can’t survive on an occasional glance, on a leftover crumb of affection.

Neither can our relationship with the Lord. God could have told us simply, “Love Me.” Instead, in both the Old and New Testaments we read this impassioned plea: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,” Luke 10:27, KJV. See also Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 13:3; Matthew 22:37.

That’s true devotion, when we love Him with our heart (our affection), with our soul (our emotional involvement), with our mind (intellectually embracing Him), and with our strength (pouring our energies and attentions onto Him). Anything less falls short of what He desires and deserves.

If we pour our energies into our hobby and give the Lord only an occasional nod, or if we connect emotionally to our friends on a deep level and fail to connect at all personally with the Lord, if we gravitate toward an activity or a person that seems to fill our soul with what it needs, that person or activity occupies a place reserved for God alone.

Are you tossing the Lord a crumb of your affection, a brief glance when you pass in the hall, the leftover minutes of your over-full life?
 
Or do you watch for ways to create time alone with Him? Do you plan things you know will please Him? Are you creating sound bytes that say, “I love my Lord with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. He means everything to me”?

PRAYER—Lord, I’ve too often allowed something else to capture my attention when I should have been focused on You. I’ve invested in worthless activities compared to the wonder of getting to know You better. Please forgive me for neglecting my relationship with You when I mistakenly thought something else was a higher priority. When asked, I want to truthfully answer, “It’s all about You.”

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,” Luke 10:27 KJV. See also Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 13:3; Matthew 22:37.

Today’s devotion by Cynthia Ruchti, writer and producer of the radio ministry THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME and current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia’s debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home—releases from Abingdon Press in Spring 2010. www.cynthiaruchti.com