Leviticus 25

Mark 1:23-45

“May your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.” 1 Kings 8:61

Some of us, in our journey of faith, can get distracted, grow cold or drift into other things. This is an issue common throughout Scripture. While it is encouraging to read in Acts 2 about the Day of Pentecost and people coming to faith and devoting themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42), it is true that the Lord was moving in signs and wonders, adding to their number daily. Yet, it did not take long for us to see some of the believers with misplaced devotions, whether it was an act of disobedience or false teaching that permeated the church.

One of the first instances happened in Acts 5:1-11, which tells us the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The couple sold a piece of property and Ananias brought the proceeds of it to the apostles’ feet, saying it was the full amount when in reality the couple kept a portion of the money from the sale for themselves. Ananias thought that no one would know, but Peter rebuked him saying, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God” (Acts 5:3-4). Peter pinpointed Ananias’s problem: something else had crept into Ananias’s heart and he had a misplaced devotion. This misplaced devotion led Ananias down a path of destruction and eventual death when he was exposed; the same happened to his wife, sending great fear through the church.

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, he had to defend his ministry against false teachers and false gospels. Although these false teachers were gifted communicators, entertaining and charismatic, they were leading the church in the wrong direction. Paul writes, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the snake’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Just like in the Garden of Eden, Satan will try and steal our devotion either by distracting or delighting us to get our attention away from Christ. We can get captivated by philosophies or different schools of thought that start to drift us away from our devotion to Christ.

If we find ourselves with a misplaced devotion, may we repent and return to Christ. He is ready to welcome us back.

Dear God, I confess that I have been distracted, grown cold and drifted into other things. Help me to devote my life to You alone. Thank You for welcoming me back.