Because he is lovingly devoted to Me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows My name. When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him My salvation. – Psalm 91:14-16
Am I “lovingly devoted” to the Lord? Are you?
In these verses, God promises His deliverance, protection, answers, and presence along with honor, long life, and salvation to the one who lives unto Him … not from a position of duty, but rather from a foundation of love. Yes, God wants our obedience, but not the kind that is blind. He is most pleased when we, open-eyed and open-hearted, yield to His purposes with the understanding that His love cannot be surpassed or even explained in worldly terms. God’s love may only be experienced through the Cross of Christ and enjoyed in the surety of His resurrection.
Only these two events, the Cross and the Resurrection, produce the loving devotion that God requires, a changed life marked by that devotion, and the power to bear witness to that change that this world must see.
I’m a very hard-line, angry atheist. Yet I am fascinated by the concept of devotion. – Joss Whedon
