This continues a series of reflections on personal devotions written by individuals from many different walks of life. This reflection was written by Rick Moore. It is the second segment of his contribution, continuing on from post number seven in this series.
Falling Short and Why
It is immediately clear when we see the standard of perfection that we do not meet that standard. In fact, self-examination with respect to one’s devotional life will put some very bad things about our spiritual condition on display.
When you examine personal devotions in an individual’s life, you can learn a lot about that person’s spiritual condition. This is just like any area of an individual’s life. With regards to personal devotions, it must first be noted that every individual’s devotional life falls short of the standard. God’s Word commands the child of God to devote himself to God, God’s glory, and the good of God’s church. All men are sinners before God who have within themselves a totally depraved nature which wants nothing to do with God, much less to devote oneself to God.
This totally depraved nature explains, but does not excuse, the behavior of men, even God’s people, in which they do not devote themselves to God as they should. It can be a danger to us that we excuse our sinful behavior on behalf of our totally depraved nature. All men are without excuse before God. Each sin you commit cannot simply be objectified as that which proceeds from a nature which we might suppose we find no identity with. No, it is us who sin against God all the day long. We have turned every one to his own way; all we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6a). Our corrupt nature is no excuse for us, and we would surely be cast into hell for our sin were it not for our High Priest, Jesus Christ who poured out His blood for us.
Men on this earth, elect and reprobate alike, do not always live their lives with a consciousness of God and the things of His kingdom at the forefront of their minds, and when they do, it falls short of the standard. They do not pray to God as often as they ought. They do not meditate on the glory of God and the wondrous works he has wrought as they ought. They do not study the Word of God and cherish the gospel as they ought. They do not love God’s law as they ought, and often, they even hate it for exposing them and all their sin. Perhaps they forget some of these things for days, weeks, or even months. What sad things this has to say about such a man’s spiritual condition, even about the spiritual condition, so often, of God’s very children!
Why We Must Devote Ourselves to God
It is immediately clear when we see this standard of perfection that we do not meet this standard. Yet, there is One who kept the standard of the law perfectly, and lived a life of perfect obedience and devotion to God, never once sinning. This One is very God and very man, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is on this Savior that the LORD hath laid the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6b). We are baptized into his death and also by his resurrection are raised to newness of life (Romans 6:4-6). And it is because of this second (last) Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) that we also as his children do not merely have an old man, but a new man also.
For the child of God, there is a new man which is created in righteousness and true holiness (Colossians 3:10). This is the image of God restored by regeneration, which is the work of the Holy Spirit to make a man born again. This new man is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:1, Ezekiel 36:26) and is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him (Colossians 3:10). The Word of God admonishes us to put this new man on (Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:24), and by doing so works the Holy Spirit in us to put on this new man. The Holy Spirit works in the child of God’s heart to love God and the neighbor, and to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. On this earth, the new man and the old man wage war every day. And so, the new man must be quickened each day by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
The child of God who is not faithful in personal devotions is a liar: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” (1 John 1:6). If we are children of God, then surely we are children of the light, and surely we are children of the Truth, for God is Truth. Therefore, we must not walk in darkness, for to do so, with the name of God and Christ on our lips, is to show ourselves not to be children of light and truth— that is, God’s children, but to show ourselves to be children of darkness, the lie, and the devil. And more than that. To walk in darkness is to not show the glory of God, but instead to give occasion to others to blaspheme the name of our God.
Not only is a man who does not devote himself to God a liar, but by his lack of devotion, he is seeking to quench the Spirit of God. He is seeking to drown God’s Holy Spirit in a sea of worldliness and wickedness. He beholds the very evidence of God preached on Sunday in His Word, and displayed so clearly in God’s Creation, and rather than see the beauty of it, and see the praiseworthiness of God, and go to God in prayer and studying God’s Word, he is consumed with the world and the things of the world, and does not see or appreciate that all things of this earth point to our Lord and Savior, and are pictures of blessed Spiritual truths.
Such a man consumed with the world, and ever growing in knowledge, but not coming to a knowledge of the truth is full of folly, you might say. But you understand, that you and I alike are like this man, and we still have the same sinful nature that this man has, who would be completely consumed with the things of this world. Rather than find ourselves drunken with the world, we are called to be sober-minded (Titus 2:6).
Therefore, we must devote ourselves to God. We must devote ourselves to Him because God is God, and God is worthy of all glory. We must devote ourselves to God because He is our Father, and we are his children. We must devote ourselves to God because he first loved us. We must devote ourselves to God because we love God. As Christ said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We must be thankful to God for all the might works He has done for us.
How We Must Devote Ourselves to God
God’s Word and God’s Spirit are inseparable. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). God’s truth is revealed in his Word, and it is revealed to the heart through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in our devotion to God, we must ask for His Spirit and read His Word. It is true that God’s people have not always been able to read Scripture. Copies of Scripture have not always been so numerable that everyone could read it. But the child of God’s calling to devote themselves to God has always remained the same. God’s children have always been called to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness, to seek His Word and His Spirit. The calling of the child of God is to devote himself to God to the best of his ability.
Surely, we who can read must read! We must read the Bible often, and we ought to read good spiritual books, too. We who can pray must pray, and that without singing. We who can sing must sing, and make melody in our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19). And we must come to God to worship on Sundays, the day of rest.
We must not forget our God during the week, but live lives which are devoted to God in all things, for our God is a devoted and faithful Father who first loved us. We then also, must devote ourselves to God, as He has commanded. We must live our lives conscious of God and His presence, and desiring that His Name be praised throughout the earth. Let all things and all men praise him, we must proclaim (Psalm 148).
So often, if you find someone who is struggling with sin (and you and I know this from our own experience too) you will find that that person has also been lax in their personal devotions to God, perhaps skipping studying the Bible, or even rarely reading it. Perhaps, praying the usual prayer, but not really thinking about it. The spiritual food you take in will shape you. Therefore, we must not partake of the world’s spiritual food, but God’s. And God’s Spiritual food for us is found in His Word.
May God give us to devote ourselves to Him, for he has done so much for us. Our God is such a devoted Father that he gave His only begotten Son for us, that we might be His children by adoption. Therefore, let us devote ourselves to this great God, who first loved us, and continues to love us, even though we always fall short, and so often forget the Name of Our God, who is worthy of all glory. Let us read, let us pray. Let us be filled with the Word and Spirit.
Let us not fill ourselves instead with the world and the spirit of antichrist. When we are troubled, we must go to God, not the world. We must go to him first, in every struggle. We must not go to the world. The world will have things to comfort us, but we will not be comforted with the gospel, but a false gospel. This false gospel takes many, many forms, some which can hardly be observed as worldly even because they may not even be in themselves inherently sinful.
We must not be comforted with these false gospels, but with the truth of the good news of salvation! We must go to God. Ask and ye shall receive; knock and the door will surely be opened (Matthew 7:7,8). This is true for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry to God as Father, who surely will provide good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11).
Helpful Tips for Devotions
This section is just some ideas based on my own shortfalling while studying. Read books, not random excerpts. If you always try and find passages you like, you will not get a grasp of the surrounding context in which those passages are found, and therefore will be missing a lot of the meaning of the text you are trying to read and study. Read a book from the Old Testament, then a book from the New Testament. Don’t feel like you have to rush through if there is content to spend more time digesting. If you get stuck on something, don’t just stop reading or be discouraged. Keep reading. Be consistent. Read God’s Word every day, even if you can barely keep your eyes open before you go to bed. Try and make God’s Word the first and last thing you think of each day. Otherwise, you are instead prioritizing various worldly things and desires above the things of God’s kingdom.
There are many things in the world to turn to when you are stressed out. Yet, we can turn to God! And that is what we should do. Maybe our lives would be a lot easier if instead of casting our burdens on the world by distracting our minds, we should cast our burdens on the Lord Jesus Christ, who truly is able to bear our burdens. The world cannot bear our burdens. We will find after all the distraction that the burdens are still there. The burdens which are cast on Jesus Christ are so very light for God’s people!
By Rick Moore
Young Calvinists 