DEVOTED TO...?

By Pastor Bob DeKlavon

What is something to which you are devoted?

In this regard, I am NOT thinking of a relationship to someone. 

I am thinking more like a hobby or a ‘thing’ {sport’s team, collecting things, etc.}.

For years, my brothers and I were devoted to collecting books.

Each year, my two most immediate older brothers and I would have ‘book counting day.’

We would count the numbers of books we had and note the increase from year to year.

In our ‘heyday,’ I am guessing that between the 3 of us we had around 25,000 books!

Each of us DOES enjoy reading, but part of the fun was finding and buying more books.

There is a Greek word that hits me when I think of those things to which I am devoted.

It is used about 10 times in the Newer Testament and it IS translated ‘devoted’ in the NASB.

It is a compound Greek word and it carries the thought of ‘putting your heart toward.’

In other words—‘be devoted.’

The use of this word that hits me hardest is found in Colossians 4:2.

There, Paul writes:

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

I will confess that prayer is my weakest spiritual discipline.

Don’t get me wrong—I pray and I enjoy praying but the words here reveal my weakness.

Are you like me in that you go to pray and suddenly think of all the things you should be doing?

Do you go to pray and find that the list you made needs to include 15 more things?

That is why I so appreciate the phrase Paul adds here:  “keeping alert in it.”

I can get sidetracked and I can lose focus and I can simply find my mind wandering everywhere.

There are times when the battle is so severe that I need to walk and pray out loud.

Graciously, during this isolation—it is easy to do this without people thinking I am a bit crazy.

What I am convinced of is that what is important to us we will find time to be devoted.

If there is a show on TV I like—I will work my schedule to view it.

If there is something I want to get—I will arrange my money and energy to pursue it.

So—what if we developed that habit with prayer?

What if each day we would make time to take time to be devoted to prayer?

And, in that prayer, that we would purposely find ways to stay alert?

In this time, I can change nothing with my anger or frustration or angst.

But we know the One Who can and I pray that we will pray and stay alert while doing so.

By the way, as I have gotten older, I am devoted now to ‘getting rid of books.’

Over the last decade, I have given away or sold around 2,000 as we try to ‘unhoard’ our lives.

That is a good thought to keep in mind as we also unclutter our lives and pray.