Total Devotion…
In 1936 the phrase, “total war” was coined by General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff in his memoir of World War I called, Der Totale Krieg. The phrase referred to the instance in which an entire nation would make the war at hand their number one priority. Every person, every policy, every single thing worked towards victory in the war. Factories stopped making refrigerators to produce tanks, women left kitchens to be nurses, everybody did their part. Total war, however, was something truly rare. It meant complete dedication and sacrifice on everyone’s part to achieve their goal. It meant total devotion to their cause…
What cause are you fighting for? What has your complete dedication? For what are you willing to sacrifice?
Ever since I was a little kid my Mom has always reminded me of a very real truth that I often struggle with even to this day. I’m an only child and the only grandson on my dad’s side of the family. Because of this, I have always reveled in being the center of attention, yet when my Mom would see me in selfishness, she would pull me aside and in love remind me, “Rusty, this world doesn’t revolve around you. It’s not all about Rusty.”
While I often disagreed with my Mom, I have come to realize that she’s right about this. It’s actually one of the greatest truths that I think my Mom has ever shared with me. This world isn’t about me. It’s about God.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” He goes on to write, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John pointed towards Jesus as the Christ, the long awaited savior that would come to restore order to the world, to restore our relationship with God, to bring us out of the darkness, to bring us life. Jesus came by God’s plan to give us redemption from our pain, from our sadness, from this broken world. John writes that everything that was created, was created through Jesus. My Mom was right, this life isn’t about me, its about God’s goodness. We must see life through this truth if we really want to know life.
Facing this amazing truth, what greater cause could we give our life to?
Before Jesus was crucified his disciples questioned him about where he was going and why he had to leave them and he responded, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus’ response isn’t about him being some kind of bouncer at the gates of heaven. Its about him being the key to it all… “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
For many people heaven is a place that they want to go, simply because they don’t want to go hell, and to them Jesus is their secret password out of punishment. This couldn’t be more far from the truth, and is tragic in light of what God intends for us. Heaven is about so much more than escaping punishment. We shouldn’t want to go to heaven because we don’t want to go to hell. We should long for heaven, because it is there we will finally be restored in our relationship with God.
Jesus is the embodiment of all of God’s love, mercy, justice, goodness, kindness, hope, joy, and peace. We should cling to Him not for what he does, but for who he is. Paul writes in the letter to the Romans that, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
The Christian faith, following Jesus, isn’t about the rules and regulations that we put upon ourselves. It’s not about being a good person, its not about going to church, its not about me, its not about you. It’s about God and who he is. Its about his righteousness, his peace, his joy. The passage from John points out that everything in this world was created through Jesus Christ. Life was meant to be experienced and lived through the truth that we have a God that could not leave us in the darkness. “Everything that was made, was made through Him.”
Jesus came to bridge the gap between us and our Heavenly Father. He came and paid the price of death that was ours to pay. He deserves our total devotion. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment of them all is to “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength…”
We are called, You are called to give your everything for the cause of Loving God. It means like the nations at war, putting aside your own desires for a single cause. It is painful, but that’s the nature of sacrifice. We must realize that this life isn’t about us. God has called us to Total Devotion. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
My prayer is that we would all take a deep look into our lives and at our priorities to see what it is we have devoted ourselves to. I pray we would come to realize that it is in Jesus that we find the true meaning of life.
The Light shines in the darkness; the darkness has not overcome it.
Just Sayins All…
Rusty
rustygates