Fully Devoted: An Introduction预览

How Do We Live Out the Bible?

The journey of becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ doesn’t stop at knowing what the Bible says. Following Jesus means actually choosing to live as if what we say we believe is true. So while the Bible absolutely can inform us, reading it wisely involves allowing the Bible to transform us.

How do we do that?

Learn the Text. Live the Text. Reflect on the Text. Repeat.

It is through the Bible that we are introduced to the story of God—and the story of us. This is how we discover the beautiful adventure we’ve been invited into. Growing as a follower of Jesus has less to do with learning more things and more to do with becoming more like Jesus.

The measure of our spiritual maturity isn’t how much we know about the Bible, but how well we love our neighbor. So, as followers of Jesus, we can’t just stop at reading the Bible.

What we see in Jesus is that the Word became flesh—the Word of God walked on earth in the person of Jesus. And just as Jesus was the embodiment of God’s Word, we are also meant to embody the words of Jesus in our lives.

A very powerful, and often overlooked, discipline to help us live out the words of Jesus is intentionally taking time to reflect on what we’re learning by meditating. What does that mean? It’s simply finding space to slow down, pause, and think about how closely our lives align with Jesus’ life.

Let’s dive a little deeper and talk about what this looks like through the lens of one of the most quoted passages and famous prayers in the Bible called the Shema.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NIV

The first word of this prayer is the Hebrew word for “hear,” or “listen,” which is shema. That’s where the prayer from this passage gets its name.

For thousands of years, every morning and evening, Jewish people have prayed these words as a way of expressing their devotion to God. When Jesus quotes this in response to a question about the most important of all the commands, it seems like He’s just stating the obvious. Of course devoting ourselves completely to God is important, but is there more Jesus is drawing our attention to?

In Hebrew, shema doesn’t just mean to listen or hear, it can also mean pay attention to or focus on.

So we aren’t just supposed to listen; we’re supposed to pay attention. That means, we don’t let these words just go in one ear and out the other. Let’s read it again and practice. When you pay attention, what stands out to you?

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NIV

Let’s keep building on it. So shema means to hear and to pay attention. And even more, it can also mean responding to what you hear.

This is why so many of the Psalms begin with a cry for God to shema. For example, Psalm 27:7 NIV says: [Shema] my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. Yes, the psalmist is asking God to listen, but even more than that, the writer wants God to do something.

When God uses this word, it’s no different. When the people of Israel made it to Mount Sinai with Moses after their rescue from slavery in Egypt, God said, “If you [shema] me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5).

When God asks people to shema, what He means is that they listen and obey—they actually keep His covenant. So “listening” in the Bible is about giving respect to the one speaking to you (hearing and paying attention) and doing what they say (responding and obeying). Real listening takes effort and action.

The same is true for applying Scripture in our lives. We don’t just read the words and let them go through our mind’s eye without another glance. We gaze intently into the perfect Law that sets us free—not forgetting what we’ve heard, but actually doing it.

The Law, found in the Old Testament, is like a blueprint. It was always intended to teach us how to relate with God and represent Him to the world. And in a world filled with distraction, wholehearted devotion is something different and special.

What would it look like for you to be fully devoted to God—not just honoring Him with part of you, but loving Him with all that you have and all that you are?

Here’s where you can start:

“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:10-12 NIV

Your devotion to God is evidenced by your dedication to loving others, to obeying, to shema-ing, what He says. We hear, we pay attention, we respond, and we obey.

And we repeat this process over and over again. Because the journey of following Jesus is a daily choice to go where He goes, do what He does, trust what He says, and love how He loves.

Journaling Questions

• Write down the Scriptures that stuck out most to you from today’s reading. What stands out to you about that Scripture? Why do you think it’s important?
• Are you the kind of person who tends to be more excited about learning new things or applying new things to your life?
• How well do you live as if what you say you believe is actually true? Why do you currently assess yourself this way? What is one thing you can change to live more consistently?

Memory Verse

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 NIV