Please bare with me... I feel another rant coming on. Recently, I started chewing on the word "devotion". What does it mean? Where did it come from? etc., when the thought hit me, is this another word the Church has hi-jacked and stripped of it's original meaning and intent?
Growing up in the Church I was continually bombarded with phrases like... have you had your devotions today? How are your devotions going? Are you having a consistent "quiet time"? Did you get your copy of the devotional? Kent, sit still while Mr. S0-and-s0 leads us in a devotion.
Devotion was a word that carried with it much guilt. It was a word with good intentions, designed to encourage me to read the Bible (or a supplement) more, but I remember as a teenager hearing the word and realizing I was a failure. I could never read the Bible more than some of the other kids in the youth group. I could never spend an hour a day reading and praying or even a half hour for that matter or even 15 minutes, because for some reason I would miss Thursday or Saturday or Monday which left me feeling guilty, unworthy, outside of God's perfect will, a loser that couldn't consistently have his devotions.
On days when I might be successful I remember being able to check it off my spiritual to-do list. "Boy, God must be proud of me now!"
Now that I'm officially "getting older" things haven't changed much. Today you can click your way to Amazon and find pages of devotional books and resources to improve and enhance your "quiet time". Now, don't get me wrong, some of these resources may be valuable, but doesn't the mass marketing of "devotion" seem to be a little... tacky?
What does "devotion" mean anyway? Dictionary.com offers these in it's list of definitions...
"profound dedication"
"feelings of ardent love"
"earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc."
True "devotion" is not a noun. It's not something I
do but it is something I
have... or do I? Am I truly
devoted to Christ? Am I truly
devoted to seeking Him? Am I truly
devoted to picking up the cross daily? Am I truly
devoted to the concept of crucifying myself so that He may live through me?
How about you? Are you devoted?