“…to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord”
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
How can I motivate you toward a life of devotion to the Lord? If you are an unbeliever, I would first encourage you to consider His character. Everyone has an opinion about God, and how they live reflects that opinion. But I think it is best to let go of our opinions and listen to how God has described Himself in the Bible. “… the LORD God [is] compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving, kindness and truth; who keeps loving, kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,” (Exodus 34:6-7, NASB). I know of no clearer description of God in the Bible. And if you believe those words to be true, you’re obviously devoted to God. He is certainly a God who is worthy of all our devotion and praise.
A second reason that I would give to encourage you to devote your life to God would be because of what He has promised to do one day. “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead,” (Acts 17.30-31, NASB). God has fixed a day of judgment in which all those who have turned from their sin and devoted themselves to God through His Son Jesus Christ will enjoy the presence of God forever. But all those who have devoted themselves to other gods, themselves, or any other thing will suffer the judgment of God.
If you are a follower of Jesus, let’s have a different discussion. Have you ever thought of just how much you are truly devoted to Him? If we flipped the perspective around, I might be able to stir up a little concern in your heart. What if God decided to be equally devoted to you as you are to Him? What if at the moment you needed God, He was nowhere to be found? What if He was at the ball field or in a bass boat and just wasn’t able to be there for you? What if He decided to sleep late, or spend the whole day on his phone? What if He just got bored with you and needed a break? Thankfully, that has never happened, nor will it ever, but it seems to happen to us all the time. Our devotion to God waxes and wanes.
But in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul is trying to get us to rethink the issue. He is wanting us to devote ourselves to God as a first priority. He is wanting every other desire or obligation to take a backseat to our devotion to God. In fact, Paul even brings up the subject of marriage.
“But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord,” (1 Corinthians 7:32, NASB).
Paul is certainly not commanding a life of celibacy, but he does bring up an issue that desperately needs the attention of Christians today. Just how devoted are you to Jesus, and is there anything in your life you can put aside in order to be more undistracted and devoted to Him? Christian, the times in which we live certainly need our undistracted devotion.
