Pure Devotion

​Throughout the New Testament, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ.  A redeemed and ransomed bride who is waiting for her glorious Bridegroom to return.  However, in that waiting, she must be careful not to get distracted or led stray from her faithful devotion by the lofting promises of the world and lies of the enemy.  She must remain sincere, pure, and fully devoted to her heavenly Bridegroom.  

​But the church of Corinth was struggling with this.  They were quickly being wooed by the false teachers of their day and were weakening in their fidelity to Christ.  Paul saw it and pointed it out.  As the one who led the Corinthians to Christ, Paul felt a special responsibility for these young Christians or, as he wrote, a divine jealousy which prompted him to write a word of warning.  

“For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.  But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
~II Corinthians 11:2-3

​God desires pure devotion, undivided love, dedicated faithfulness, and unwavering loyalty from His redeemed people.  As Paul wrote the Corinthians, we are spiritually betrothed to one Husband and must, therefore, act accordingly.  It would not be fit for an engaged bride to wander off with other lovers or become distracted with the allures others have to offer.  No!  She ought to remain faithfully devoted to her bridegroom and patiently wait for his return. 
 
Likewise, we must be careful not to allow our minds and hearts to wander from our relationship with Christ.  Or as Paul wrote the Corinthians, we should not become like Eve who was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.  Rather, our devotion, dedication, and love for Christ must be sincere, pure, and constant. 
 
How is your devotion to Christ?  Are you remaining undivided, undistracted, and sincere in your relationship with Him?  Or has the world crept in and led your thoughts and affections away from your first love?  Are you guilty as the Ephesians were for abandoning their first love? 
 
Throughout life our devotion and love for Christ will be tested and we may at times fail the test, however, the important thing is that we get back up and grow stranger in our relationship with Him so that when the next test comes we may be able to stand firm in the unconditional love of our Savior and Redeemer. 
 
So again I ask, where do you stand in your relationship with Christ?  Are you sincerely and purely devoted?  Or have you been led astray by Satan’s lies and the world’s allures? 
 
May we all be faithful, sincerely devoted followers of Christ!