SIMPLE DEVOTION TO JESUS

1. Simple Devotion To Jesus

a) Hear God’s Word for you in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3. “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

b) God is jealous for your undivided affection. He pictures this in the imagery of two lovers. He counts you as a pure virgin engaged to his Son Jesus. When you are madly in love, it is easy to have eyes only for the one you love. You listen in rapt attention for the next word from your beloved’s mouth, and any wish is your command. You let nothing disturb your communion.

c) Listen to the single commitment of a lover of Jesus. He said, “Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Choose the one thing that cannot be taken away from you: fellowship in complete devotion to Jesus, filling your heart with him, hanging on his words, and joyously abandoning yourself to him. On this earth Jesus was conscious of one thing: perfect oneness with his Father (John 10:30; 17:22). Be blessed with the simplicity that is in Christ, so that all you do aims for perfect unity with him.

d) Feel the love hunger of a great lover of God. Among all the privileges of royalty, where no pleasure of the king was denied, David said in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” This was the priority of a man after God’s own heart, simple and pure devotion to him, being in his presence, drinking in the beauty of his holiness, wanting nothing and nobody else.

e) After Jesus ascended back to his Father, Peter and John amazed the most learned and powerful Jewish ruling body of the day. Dr. Luke tells us, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Being with Jesus was their credential: being entirely dedicated and loyal to him, letting nobody turn them aside, being faithful to the power he imparted to them. Be blessed with the courage and boldness that mark the simplicity and devotion of being with Jesus. Be blessed with freshness and power that causes others to be amazed and marvel at your purity in Jesus alone. Have with no other agenda than being sold out to making the name of Jesus famous.

f) As Paul sat in jail near the end of his life, he boiled his life down to its essence. He said, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). His single-minded devotion to Jesus baptized him with love that did not shrink from pouring his life out as a drink offering. He had eyes only for the prize: Jesus himself and his pleasure. Be blessed with the integrity of loving Jesus only and following him wholly.

g) Be blessed in the name of Jesus who is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise (Revelation5:12).