Where Does Your Loyalty Lie?
“If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” – Jeremiah 29: 13 (NLT)
You know one of those interview questions where you are asked to describe yourself in 3 or 5 words? Does loyalty ever come up in yours? Would you describe yourself as a loyal person? If yes, are you just saying it because it’s a nice thing to say or you really believe you are loyal?
Sometimes, people use the words – “loyalty,” or “loyal” loosely without actually thinking deeply about its meaning.
Webster dictionary defines the word “loyal” as:
- “Faithful to law; upholding the lawful authority; faithful and true to the lawful government; faithful to the prince or sovereign to whom one is subject; unswerving in allegiance.” AND
- “True to any person or persons to whom one owes fidelity, especially as a wife to her husband, lovers to each other, and friend to friend; constant; faithful to a cause or a principle.”
It also defines “loyalty” as “[t]he state or quality of being loyal; fidelity to a superior, or to duty, love, etc.”
Now that we have established the meaning of loyalty, would you still describe yourself using this word? If yes, then the next question is what or who are you loyal to?
Our loyalties lie in our principles. Today, we are all getting carried away by material things – Who drives the most expensive car? Who uses the latest gadgets? Who makes more money? Who’s more accomplished? etc; or even the busyness of life – our jobs, our families, our friends etc. We forget the One who truly matters most – God. He shouldn’t be begging us for our attention, but instead, we should be spending more time with Him, and thinking about Him. We need to shut out the noise of this world and focus on what truly matters. If push comes to shove, we need to pick where our loyalties lie.
People leave, material things will fade away, but the only constant person that will never leave nor fade is God. He is there even when we are not, He is listening, looking out for us, directing our paths, even when we are to busy to talk to him. We are quick to go to the theater to see the latest movies, or even spend time sitting through seasons of TV shows (Grey’s Anatomy for me! – 16 seasons! Lol.), playing video games, or doing whatever it is that we find interesting, but we can barely spend 10 minutes with God! We find it okay to get to work as early as possible, finish deadlines, attend important meetings, but we pick and choose when to attend church because “we aren’t feeling up to it.”, or we cannot decide “what to wear” or some other excuse! But if we had a job interview, would we be that lackadaisical about it? Sad, but true for most.
I’m not saying we should not aim for great accomplishments, or appreciate the good things of life, or engage in things we like to do; I’m saying that our duty and commitment should not be to things that are temporary. We must be firm and faithful to God and only God! That is the only time we can truly find our purpose and walk the right path. Remember, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” – Matthew 6:33 (NLT version).
Stop spending time chasing what God will give to you on a platter. It takes strength greater than yours to stay loyal to God, but we can lean on Him for all the strength we need.