Dedicated

This is a word that screams out commitment. If a person is dedicated to their job, they display commitment in all sorts of ways. Dedicated means “wholly committed to something or someone”. This word also refers to “dedicate” something, which carries some responsibility to the one dedicating something or someone for a specific purpose. In spiritual terms, the Lord wants our hearts to be dedicated to Him. He is patient as I navigate through the process of surrender. I sometimes think it is mine to dedicate to Him, but it’s really ALL His! I remember as a kid, people would go to the front of the church and “rededicate” their life to the Lord. They had obviously violated their vow of being dedicated to Him.  I confess that I have to do this more often than I want to mention.

In the Old Testament, dedicating something or someone to the Lord was a big, formal deal. The priests would keep a record of who or what you were dedicating to the Lord. If I wanted to dedicate my life, there was a value placed upon me. If I wanted to dedicate one or all of my children, there was a value placed on them. This was a whole different level of commitment. Check this out….

¹The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person, ³ here is the scale of values to be used….

⁸ “However, anything specially set apart for the Lord—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord. (Leviticus 27:1-3,8 NLT)

I’d be “broke as a joke” if I had to pay money every time I wanted to rededicate my life to the Lord. I’m thankful that through Jesus, He made a way for me to keep walking out my faith dedicated to Him. He welcomes me back when I’ve wandered off. He helps me up when I stumble. It’s probably a bit strange to some that the Person I’m dedicated too is actually the most help in keeping my heart turned toward Him. He is kind. He is patient. He is full of Grace. He is full of Love. He is overflowing with mercy toward me. Jesus actually paid the price for my dedication. I am so thankful. I am starting another day dedicated to Him and His will for me. I want to walk this out with His Presence in me helping me to navigate the temptations and struggles of this life.

Pressing On!

Dwayne