Devotion

What is devotion?
Having God as one’s first priority. Having “pride” in God. Looking to God first before all else. Loving God above all else. A life priority that God comes first and everything else is pointless. Acting as if your life were not your own, but God’s. Surrendering everything you have and are to God for his use.

Jesus’ Passion:
Matthew 27:43
Even those who mocked him on the cross recognized that Jesus was putting his trust in God first. He was on the cross because he trusted that God would vindicate him and because he put God first in his life.
Luke 23:46
Jesus’ very last words were those of putting himself in God’s hands. He focused on God first in all of his life and God was his first thought in his last speech.

Jesus’ Ministry:
Matthew 12:48-51
Jesus declared as his family not those who were born in his family, but those who obeyed God and focused on God with as much devotion as he did.

Jesus’ Teaching:
Matt 6:33
We are not to place our basic needs before anything else. Even our need for food and clothing come after our devotion to God, his kingdom and his righteousness. Nothing in our lives is to be as important as God and doing his will. Nothing.

Luke 14:25-33
Jesus is saying that we need to be ready to put everything we have at God’s disposal. God is the first—nay, the ONLY authority in our lives. What he says goes, and even our family members, our relationships, our possessions are to be at God’s disposal, to do with as He pleases.

Mark 10:17-22
The young man had learned obedience to God, and that was good. But to be finished in his devotion, he had to make all of his possessions—that man’s greatest honor—at God’s disposal, for his use as well. It is not enough to dedicate things to God, or to gain things correctly. God wants total surrender. Total renunciation of all we have and are.

Others in the NT:
Phil 3:3-4
Paul count every accomplishment and pride that he took to be “excrement” in comparison with the glory he gained in Christ. He is totally devoted to Jesus—nothing else is worth anything.

Hebrews 12:1
We are to lay aside anything that will block our devotion to God. Get rid of them and let them go for the sake of God and his call on us to take up the cross.


Things we want to take honor in
(But God wants us to renounce them and put him first)
Being a rebel (Romans 1)
Having educational degrees
Having lots of money (Luke 16:10-15)
Dressing well (Matthew 23)
Having a collection of possessions—CD’s, books, paintings, photos, etc. (Matthew 6:19)
Having knowledge (I Corinthians 8:1-3)
Having been well-traveled
Being famous
Being a prayer warrior
Fasting a lot (Matthew 6)
Being a pastor
Having a title (Matthew 23)
Having a lot of responsibility
Being a leader (Mark 10)
Giving to the poor (I Corinthians 23)
Being a hero
Being patriotic
Having or raising children
Having overcome a difficult life circumstance, such as an addiction or a mental illness.
Being “bad”
Being good at sports
Having a good job
Having a good income
Having an all-encompassing hobby such as photography or quilting.
Belonging to a good church, a club or a religious party.
Having a big house

All of this is shit compared to the glory of God.
Our focus is not what we have, what we are, or what kind of status we can acquire. Rather, it is the love and devotion that God can accomplish through us.