Undivided Loyalty

“Undivided Loyalty”

By Zach Wood

James 1:5-8 NLT

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

We all have different stores and food places that we frequently visit.  For me, there are certain stores and certain food places where I know that I will always get a good deal.  I want to go to certain stores where I know I will get good quality products and great service.  I also like to go to certain food places where I know I will enjoy the food and the service that is provided.  I am loyal to these places when we choose to go out to eat and go to buy certain products.

You all have certain places, just like me, that you like to go frequently.  The places have given you a type of service that keeps you coming back.  Even if you get a bad experience here for there for whatever reason, you’ve had enough good experiences to know that you will still get good service if you go back.  We have all had bad experiences at places.  Sometimes, we choose not to go back, but other times, we know it was just a bad day or what not, so we still choose to go back because we have had good food, good products and good service in the past.

We all have developed undivided loyalty in one way or another with these different places.  Even with the occasional bad experience, these places have gained our trust enough to keep us coming in.  Loyalty is a big word.  When people develop loyalty not only with places, but also with people, that is a big thing as well.  We want loyal people in our lives so that we know we can trust them. 

How about our loyalty to God?  We all have great experiences with God, but we also have times in our lives where we get frustrated with the so-called “service” we think God is giving us.  We get frustrated when life gets tough a lot of times.  We wonder what He’s doing.  We tend to forget He has wisdom beyond our understanding.  He knows what He’s doing.  We need to remain loyal to God, through the good times and bad times.  God wants undivided loyalty in our lives. 

When we seek after God for wisdom, do we seek with undivided loyalty, no matter what the journey brings?  Do we continually seek Him when the going gets tough and when we aren’t getting answers?  Is our loyalty unwavering?  These are tough questions, but ones we must ask as we consider our loyalty to Him.