Devotional Dilemmas: Luxury or Necessity
As a believer, one of the things I struggled with was moving from desire to doing in my devotional life. I mean, it’s very easy to stay, wish, and dream to be that stable child of God, but when it comes down to doing, most of us lose steam. We rely on procrastination, structure and excuses, set up unrealistic and unattainable structures, delay those routines and give excuses for our lack of commitment to building a sustainable relationship with our Father, God. We enjoy the luxury of mental satisfaction, the pictures of our end result. If only we got down to working it out. You love the image of that sound teacher you are in your head, yet when your alarm rings for bible study, you hit snooze.
People say, “Oh, I’m starting the 30-day fast next month,” or” I’m going to pray three hours every day from next week.” When the time comes, it passes, and they begin giving excuses, making statements like, “Oh!! The only reason why I didn’t start the fast was because I had a company retreat or I missed the first day. Yes, it seems a valid excuse, but it is a massive disservice to yourself in the grand scheme of things.
This is merely an instance among many devotional dilemmas. This topic is our central focus for March.
As you can see, I’m taking ample time to break down devotion. I have repeatedly said that everything a believer will ever be in life is wrapped up in God's word, so devotion helps you understand the heart of the Father and adequately align with the agenda. An adage says if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Bringing it to the context of the believer. You must understand that emotions are not strong enough to base an iota of truth upon. Emotions can aid discernment and inclination, but at the end of the day, if you want to fulfil everything God wills, you need to get up on your feet and do the work.
E. W Kenyon in his book '' SIGNPOSTS ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS,'' says that you must treat your body as a slave. Subject it to duty for the sake of your future; I believe you already know this, so one thing I want you to take away from today’s article is that your spiritual devotion can be stable and void of lethargy, but there is the doing part. There is discipline and submission to work at it irrespective of your body's desire to quit because there are times you won't like studying, but you must; you won't want to give the fruits of the spirit expression in your dealings, but you must.
Can you pinpoint when your desire for Bible studies shifted from apathy to thirst? For most people, the answer is No. The parables of the sower and the lamp in the New Testament are profound. Matthew 8 taught something important about devotion. Jesus' teaching in that parable explains the process of revelation of scripture. You see, the light in that lamp is the word of God, and the lamp itself is a vessel, a fit carrier of the true light(God's life). It is because of the light that such a vessel becomes needed. Hence, it is placed on a shelf for the world to see.
There is an interesting correlation between the parable of the seed (sower) and the lamp I've come to understand. When the seed of the word of God has been planted on fertile, not viral ground, it can mature into different expressions of faith because what the growing word of God does in you is that it builds faith. You can live the faith life( the Zoe life of God). The expressions of this life inside you becomes a light that cannot be hidden. If you do not have a devotional life, you won't grow; if you do not, you cannot mature or be trusted. There can be no vacuum; something must give. If you cannot grow in knowledge, you grow in ignorance. If you don't grow in faith, you will grow in fear. Sin, for the context of this article, is the absence of a specific knowledge of God and his ability in a certain capacity.
This is the value of the word of God; When you move from desire to doing, you become the vessel that devotion makes you- The vessel that doesn't just carry God as an example to the world but one that the light of God can truly transform. This is why, beyond the general desire to grow in your knowledge of the word of God, you must put in the work. If not, the light in you may become darkness.
Every post sets us free because God's words are new, even to the writer. I have learned much from today's post, and I hope you have too. God loves you, and I hope you love you, too, because you are worth every bit of love.
If this blessed you, please take a screenshot, post the segment that blessed you and tag me❤
See you at the same time next week❤
Picture credits: https://pngtree.com/freepng/dilemma-double-figure-indecisive_13987431.html
