Loyalty

Loyal: as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is the following:

1. Unswerving in allegiance: as

a. faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government

b. faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due

c. faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product

Loyalty...When this word is mentioned, what comes to mind? For me, I think of the thousands of loyal fans that paid thousands of dollars per ticket (tickets for Superbowl XLV ranged anywhere from around $2k to $23k and higher), to see a championship game in which a pigskin is thrown around by a bunch of oversized men running around in tights.

Of course, we should bring it a little closer to home, since I will assume that not many got a chance to be at the game and spend exorbitant amounts of money. Maybe your loyalty lies in a T.V. show. Hours every week are spent in front of a Magic Box, which for an undetermined amount of time, allows us to sit back and forget our problems and live in a world that seems so much better than our own. Maybe your loyalty is the bar. How many hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, were spent in the bar this past month? What about watching porn every night? Forget the obvious things mentioned above, are you loyal enough to wake up at 4 a.m. to get an early start on your day so you can hit the slopes or go fishing?

Faithful...that was the key word in the definitions provided above. No matter where you are in life, there is something you are loyal too, besides God (if God is even in the picture at all). You are human. Its only natural to have things to which you fill your time with, right? I hope that the previous paragraphs hit home for you in one way or another. If not, stop reading right now, and think about something you faithfully do. Maybe its getting on Facebook every single day, playing Xbox, or staying up all night to study. What, in your life, do you show faithful devotion to?

Whatever the case might be, notice how easy our loyalty to these things is bought. Now think about this. How hard is it, for you, to be loyal to God? When your in church, and the pastor is bringing up ministry opportunities, how often do you say, "I don't have time for this, therefore I am not going to get involved." Moreover, what if God gives you a vision, but you don't see how you can accomplish the goal, leading you to give up before you started.

Let me be more forthcoming. It boggles my mind that we have to BEG Christians to do anything! Its as if their time is on loan to God. Therefore the Church has to bribe "volunteers" by providing free lunches, comfortable working conditions, or special recognition in front of the whole congregation. It is absolutely absurd! Notice how you don't have to beg a drunk to go serve his god every day. Do you think you have to plead with a sports fan to stand up and show a little enthusiasm while his/her team is winning? Yet during worship time we are hardly awake, as if the fact that we have been rescued from certain death means nothing to us!

It is thrilling for hunting enthusiasts to wake up at 4 in the morning to prepare for a long day of stealth-fully stalking prey. Yet for Christians, 4 a.m. is time for essential sleep, not seeking His face for the trials that lie ahead. Then again, when in our busy lives do we ever have time for God. Once in a while, when we have a moment of boredom in our lives filled with unnecessary noise, we might spend five minutes in prayer. God-forbid we carve out a time between running children to soccer practice and work to just stand still and acknowledge His presence.

Loyalty...Its something that needs to be awakened in our lives. Loyalty like Abraham, who at the cost of all logic and hope of obtaining the promise of God, obeyed anyway and put Isaac on the altar. Loyalty like that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Even though being faced with the threat of burning to death, they answered by saying the following,

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

(Daniel 3:17-18)

Loyalty, like Jesus, which drove Him to the cross. Loyalty like Felicitatis who suffered persecution under Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 162. She refused to deny Christ, as did her sons. For that, her sons were executed one by one (by various means of torture). Finally Felicitatis was beheaded with the same sword that killed 3 of her sons.

If you gave all for Satan, there is no option for us, we better give all for God. If only God could find people who are loyal enough to serve Him, He will use us mightily. Yes, it is a scary step. Yes, it is uncomfortable. Yes, it will cost us everything we have.

Yet it is the least we can offer.