You have my attention now

Love the Lord, all you godly ones! For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes the arrogant. So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord! (Psalm 31:23-24 NLT)

The Lord protects those who are loyal to him - does that protection extend to you? If not, there is no time like the present to come under that protection! Wherever we put our trust determines our safety in times of trouble and turmoil, doesn't it? If we trust in the bathtub over the storm cellar in a tornado, we might not do as well, right? If we trust in God with all our heart, we will do well to not only 'manage' during the storms of life but come out the other side stronger.

What does it mean to be loyal to him? If we were honest here, we'd have to admit our 'loyalty' is sometimes quite divided, is it not? We trust him with the hard stuff, but the stuff we think we can figure out on our own, well we just plunge right on through that without even stopping to ask him if we should! Wholehearted devotion - describe that and you might just figure out what it means to be loyal to God. Some of the time, like it or not, we have little more than 'half-hearted' devotion to him. If it suits us, we are all in. If not, we 'visit' this relationship with him when times get harder, but 'ignore' it when times are seemingly going well.

Unwavering dedication to his principles is required for wholehearted devotion. That means we are obedient to the hard stuff and not just the stuff that comes easy to us. It may be easy not to steal (obedience to the eighth commandment). It may be harder not to gossip (disobedience to not slander). Obedience is a core principle when it comes to dedication to God. Loyalty requires obedience to both the hard stuff and the easier stuff - period. There is no 'cherry-picking' when it comes to our loyalty. We are either hot or cold - there is no 'lukewarm' in God's kingdom.

While we aren't always 'on target' with our behavior, God looks at our heart. If we trust him with all our heart, listen intently to his voice, and endeavor to be obedient to what he requires of us, we are doing well. When we put him first in our decisions, forsaking the tendency to do things our own way, then come to him when it doesn't go well, we are doing well. God's place in our lives determines our level of dedication. Does he have our heart (mind, will and emotions)? Is he FIRST in our decisions? Is he in control or do we retain control until it doesn't serve us well to control it any longer? 

Dedication seeks his renewal daily. It means we open our hearts to him, let him speak to us about what is there that clutters our minds and muddles our emotions. In so doing, God is able to help us unburden ourselves from the things that lead to disobedience in our lives. Maybe it is time to just unpack a little bit of what we have been holding in for so long and let him finally have our full attention. Just sayin!