The Wading Pool

Devotion.  It’s a word that’s bandied about with great frequency in evangelical circles today.  “In my morning devotion I read…”  Or maybe “that guy is really devoted to Christ!” Or how about “I want to be totally devoted to You, Lord.”  I’m sure you’ve heard others.  It’s a big word these days.

But are we devoted?  I mean, is the guy that can only crank out 15 minutes with God, 3 out of 7 days a week, squeezed in between his bagel and his coffee more devoted than the guy that goes to church on Sunday morning AND Sunday night? What about if you attend the mid-week study and a home group?  Are you devoted then?

Or what if you give tons of money, or time, to the church?  What if you work at a Christian school (ouch for me)?  Are you more or less devoted?

In Acts ch. 2, immediately after Peter preaches the dream sermon of every pastor and sees his church grow from 120 to 3000, we read this:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.”  Acts 2:42-43 ESV

Ok, I’m no scholar, but according to the handy dictionary on my Mac, the word “devotion” comes from the Latin word “devotio”, which in turn came from a word that means “consecrate.”  That’s not a word I use most days, how about you?  So, to be sure, I looked it up too.  And “consecrate” means “to make or declare sacred; dedicate formally to a religious or divine purpose.”

So, in that sense, whether it be 15 minutes or your entire life, we can all be “devoted.”  We can choose to devote our first minutes upon waking up to God in prayer.  We can choose to devote our Thursday night to helping the needy in the name of God at the local shelter.  We can choose to get up early on Sunday and devote our time to handing out bulletins for the first service crowd.  We can choose to devote our time to God by teaching others about him 5 days a week.  We can choose to devote our job to Christ by doing business honestly each day, and sharing our faith with those around in word and deed.

We can choose to be devoted to Jesus 24-7, or we can choose to be devoted to something else.

As for me and my house?