So what are these things we call devotions? I was thinking about it a couple a days ago at like 230am since I have now become and official insomniac, but that’s cool cause Ill probably end up as a narcoleptic, the guy that falls asleep in his food and dies, great way to go! So there I am wide awake, cant sleep and maybe a little cracked out, not literally but mentally. Which not much of a change for me. Especially if you experienced me staying up all night before, I’m freaking weird. But my mom calls me special. I’ve also learned that I cant spell so get over it if you got a problem with it, I haven’t learned how to correctly spell ebonics yet. So there is a point to all this, WHAT THE HELL ARE DEVOTIONS? I hear and have told countless people you gotta do your devotions. But what are they. This is the complexities I face at 230 am. For years people have described devotions as reading your Word and praying. But let’s look at the word devotions. The root being devotion. According to dictionary. com the definition of devotion is: The act of devoting or the state of being devoted./religious zeal; willingness to serve God. So from this we can derive the idea of devotion is to be completely sold out, committed, loyal etc…. But how in the hell do we get reading the Bible and praying from this. In my mind devotions are acts of devotion to a purpose or cause you are devoted to. So taking that and ANALYTICALLY ANALYZING it ( for my friends who know) we gather that they are acts that are apart of devoting ones self to a purpose or cause. As people who love God, don’t call me a Christian, I LOVE GOD. As a person who loves God I am devoted to Him, all of Him. So being devoted to God is a LIFESTYLE not a 10-minute dive into rehearsed prayer and a short chapter in Psalms. It is living and breathing the things of Christ. It is thinking, acting, talking and loving like He has called us to do. So then why in the Hell does the church call us to do your devotions daily and not expand on it so that those of us who cant spell analytical understand its a lifestyle not ten minutes out of my day. Allow me to parallel it like this: Sports fans are devoted to their teams. So what are acts of devotion they do. Go to games, watch highlights on ESPN, research and learn about their teams history and future, invest in season tickets when they don’t have the money, look like a fan, talk like a fan, do whatever it takes to meet and talk with their team, think like a fan and even fight for their team. Now lets parallel those acts of devotion to those of us who love God. We go to church, to fellowship with other fans, get fed by spending time with the One we are devoted to. We listen to tapes of preaching, worship and TV that gives us deeper insight into God. We read the Word to learn about the past and the future of God. We pay tithes and invest in the organization that represents God, even when money is tight. We carry ourselves as people who love God. We talk like a person who Loves God. We do whatever it takes to meet with God daily, through the Word and prayer. We think like a person that loves God. And we fight for the things of God. Now that is a parallel of things that show devotion aka devotions. But when you are devoted to someone you stand for what they stand for. The Word clearly says the GOD IS LOVE! Then if we are truly devoted to God we are devoted to loving as God loves. Now the Word says God judges, condemns etc… Those are actions He does not who He is, GOD IS LOVE. So back to being devoted to God our job as people who love God and are devoted to Him are we not called to love people as Christ did. Without condemnation or judgment. You see God did PIMP SLAP Peter after he denied Him 3 times. He didn’t fly off the handle when He was in front of Pilate and be like listen to your wife homey she knows what she’s talking bout. He acted in love because He knew God is the judge and it was His will. So what’s my point, that if we are naive enough to believe that devotions are simply spending ten minutes doing are religious requirements then we will never fully understand the full potential that God has created us with. YES. The whole idea behind this is that if we Love God we will live our lives devoted to Him and what He stands for, LOVE. And we will do whatever it takes to live a life of Love, a life that shows love even when people fail us or fall. God didn’t slap Peter He loved him through his betrayal. The BOTTOM LINE: devotions are crap, devotion to God is what we are called to do. That entails everything in this world we can do on a daily basis to show that we are devoted to God and the things of God.
