Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 61. I Will Continue to Live Alongside You, Human (the power of bringing devotion to my witness)

Hello human.

Anna was 84 when she met the baby Jesus. He was 40 days old. Joseph and Mary had brought him to the temple for purification to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth, and in obedience to the Torah (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12–15) to perform the redemption of the firstborn son.

And Anna was ready. She had spent 77 years worshiping at the temple as a devoted widow.

Luke 2:36-38

 

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[ She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

 

Anna knew Jesus when she met Him. She had been devoted to God the Father, His Father, for all thosedecades. Worshiping. Fasting. Praying. Prophesying. Her devotion illuminated the life Joseph and Mary were living as parents of the Son of God. Her life of devotion affirmed theirs to following God’s Will.

A prophesy realized.

I am Devoted by Nature

I have a lot of experience with devotion. I have been passionately devoted to dancing, so much so that I never wanted to leave the studio, 12- hour days, rehearsals and beautiful, pain-defying moments with students that made us all bone-tired, and hearts full with the joy of moving together. I have been passionate about being a student, staying close to inspiration and the power of discovered ideas to broaden my lens on the world around me. I have been passionately devoted to raising money for underserved populations, to help donors discover the power of a philanthropic heart that would rather give, than receive. A fully generous heart. I have been passionately devoted to being a source of inspiration to my children and my husband.

But it is now that I ask the question that prompts a commanding level of spiritual growth.

Being Devoted to Jesus

What does being devoted to Jesus mean? Again, we define it with earthly gain in mind. There is an entire industry built on daily devotionals. Spiritual triggers, inspiration points, quick lessons to connect us to our God. 365 days, then again, and again. Calendar upon calendar upon calendar.

But how does the depth of my devotion impact my moment-by-moment witness, my ability to share who He is to someone? I read recently that one sign of a genuine believer is devotion to Christ, that to be devoted means to cling to Jesus and steadfastly persevere with Him.

Like our 84-year-old prophet. Anna came into the picture having lived in the “B.C. world” when Jesus was a prophecy: not a baby, not a boy, not a man, not yet our Savior.

And the B.C. world, say going back to 1 Kings… was about the battle of being devoted to God or idols, God or many gods, God or pagan gods. Or trying to do both. Even then, the author of Kings spoke of being devoted.

1 Kings 8:61 (KJV)

 

Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

In this context, according to Strong’s (H8003) the word for devoted means this:  complete, safe, peaceful, perfect (of keeping covenant relation), whole, full, at peace (of covenant of peace, mind).

Being “safe” in the B.C. world was no small thing. It was a world filled with physical battles and dominance, brutal wars, and a constant need to defend. While the definition of “safe” continues to evolve in our culture today, it is also escalating, and becoming a front-line priority. We have our own battles to fight.

But for me the use of the words “complete, whole, full” hold such power, that being devoted impacts the condition of my heart, the capacity of my heart, that I have a fullness to how I live, a heart that is full, and at peace… because my focus has surrendered to devotion to my Creator.

Paul is a Practical Man

Paul directs us to be devoted to prayer as he instructs the church in Colossae, Asia Minor.

He is a practical man, never forgetting what it takes, what we need to hear, to make it through each day.

Colossians 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

According to Strong’s definitions, in this context, “devote” means:

to adhere to one, be his adherent, to be devoted or constant to one

to be steadfastly attentive unto, to give unremitting care to a thing

to continue all the time in a place

to persevere and not to faint

to show one’s self courageous for

to be in constant readiness for one, wait on constantly

Well first, I should say I am so pleased to consider the idea of “not fainting…” which is easier to do in this earthly life than we might first think. By this I mean that I don’t lose consciousness to my spiritual life and God moving through it. I fall in and out of spiritual consciousness all day, every day. But the Holy Spirit keeps me connected to my Savior and my Heavenly Father.

Paul is literally telling us to devote ourselves to talking to God with a thankful spirit.

Tell Him all about it. All the time.

Divine Reciprocity, A City I want to Live In

Devotion is a God thing first, yet in Romans Paul references the definition we are accustomed to when thinking about devotion from one human to another …

In Romans 12:10 the apostle Paul advises us to “Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves”.

This word usage describes:

• the mutual love of parents and children and wives and husbands
• loving affection, prone to love, loving tenderly

and, my favorite,

• chiefly of the reciprocal tenderness of parents and children

Reciprocal tenderness. That is something to lift us up in our earthly relationships, but how much more so when thinking about how God is devoted to each of us.  All good and divine things begin with God. Toward us. Backto Him.

Divine reciprocity. That’s a city I want to live in.

Sit Near to Jesus, Sit Near to Your Heavenly Father

Paul was never at a loss for sharing the truth, even in the pagan Corinthian culture—a mix of Roman, Greek and Oriental life.

1 Corinthians 7:35

 

This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

 

In this context “devotion” means:  to sit near, to attend assiduously, to be in attendance upon, not to quit one’s side, sitting constantly by, devoted

My dog does this very well. All the time. Literally. I just had to say this for dog lovers who jump on the BUOY.

And for us, if I were to say to you that I will not quit being by your side, I will be sitting constantly by… how would your heart respond? That is the power of bringing devotion to my witness… that I will continually live alongside you, human, that I will continue to ask of those I do not know well—how they are, how can I help, do they know that Jesus died for them, that His devotion to their Salvation is divine?

I will continue to ask. I will remain devoted. I will sit near, I will not quit your side, I will sit constantly by. I will devote my witness to sharing the gospel of Jesus in my life with you.

So, sit with our prophet Anna. So, sit with me here, human, in this season of our Savior’s first days with us. Sit closer for the coming of His birth.