Life-threatening Devotion

As I was praying earlier this week for our nation and the church, I acknowledged to God that “We don’t understand life-threatening devotion.”

What does that mean?

It was the first time I heard that phrase, and it struck me. So I asked Him what it meant, and He immediately reminded me of Hebrew 12:2:

…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Life-threatening devotion is having a love for God that is stronger than any other love we have. It’s a devotion to our God and Father that is worth more than our own lives, and is worth any sacrifice to maintain that relationship. It’s the kind of devotion that makes us give up sleep to pray or study His word, give up food to humble ourselves, or give up our reputation to serve rather than be served.

Examples of life-threatening devotion

There are many examples in scripture, not just Jesus, but also His followers and predecessors.

• David practiced life-threatening devotion when he refused to kill Saul because he was God’s anointed, even though Saul was trying to kill him. (1 Samuel 24:10, 26:9-11)
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego would rather die than turn away from their devotion to God. (Daniel 3:16-18)
• After being arrested, Peter and John told the Sanhedrin that they would rather listen to God than man (Acts 4:19-20).
• The apostles later told the Sadducees that they “ought to obey God rather than men”, and it almost got them killed (Acts 5:29, 33).

Paul often expressed his devotion to Jesus in terms of danger:

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:22-28

Paul also pointed to Christ as our best example of life-threating devotion:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8

Not just physically life-threatening

But I realized it’s not just our physical life that we should threaten with our devotion, but our selfishness, our comfort, and our attitudes. Is our devotion to God strong enough to threaten our jobs, our lifestyles, our financial standing, and our social status?

Peter’s devotion brought him under censure by the church; he defended his obedience in the Cornelius matter with “who was I that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:17)

What is my devotion level?

The idea of life-threatening devotion struck me so much that I have to ask:

• Is our devotion so great that we will sell all we have to buy it? (Matthew 13:44-46)
• Is our devotion to God strong enough that we will sell what we have and give to the poor? (Mark 10:21)
• Will our devotion drive us to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily? (Luke 9:23-25)

I have just offered a few examples, the Scripture is full of them. As the writer of Hebrews put it: “ And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell…” (Hebrews 11:32)

After providing a list of examples of faithful devotion in Hebrews 11 (by faith…), he tells us that our devotion (faithfulness) should be encouraged by Christ’s example, and challenges us with the truth that our devotion has not yet been tested.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:1-4)

We must each examine ourselves and ask:

Do I have LIFE-THREATENING DEVOTION to God?

What does that mean to you? Do you have any examples of when your devotion to God was life-threatening? I don’t have many. But when I look to the future of this country, I wonder if more opportunities to show our life-threatening devotion are on the way. Then I hope I can be counted among those whom John described in Revelation 12: 11:

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Next week I will dive into some specific areas where we need to have life-threatening devotion to God.

By His calling, in His strength,

Dean

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The Families from the Beginning newsletter provides twice-monthly insights and ministry updates. Click here to sign up for this email newsletter. Previous newsletters are here.