Dedication, Devotion and Desire

  

Psalm 119:30-40 “I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame! I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart. Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your judgments are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.”

 

Back when my oldest son reached five years old, I signed him up for Little League baseball, ironically, at the exact same Little League that I first played for. The try-outs were performed and the tee-ball teams divided, then we received news that our team (the Cougars) did not have a Manager and needed to choose a parent to run the ballclub. That was the start of my two decades of Managing, Coaching and Umpiring with both of my sons. I was young and improving as I gained experience using the sports training that I grew up in, through a little study and the school of hard knocks. When my oldest son reached the Major Division (10-12 yr. old), I took the Braves team with my two brothers as coaches. It was important to me to look at the individual player and assess their abilities and abilities, then work on each kid both physically and mentally to shape them into the best ballplayer they could be. I came across motivational sayings that I would sit down with the team and talk with them about. One of these was the three D’s to Success - Dedication, Devotion and Desire. You may have heard that there are 7 D’s of Success: Discipline, Drive, Delegation, Direction, Decisiveness, Determination and Dedication, all good but I found that my three D’s worked well on pre-teenagers to focus them on perfecting their baseball skills. They confidently understood who they were, their role and their goal as team members.

 

These fundament principles of success are not new and King David used these same principles in writing Psalm 119 to illuminate the righteous walk with God. (1) “I have chosen / Your servant” – Dedication. (2) “devoted to fearing (reverence of) You / I shall observe it with my whole heart” – Devotion. (3) “Give me understanding / for I delight in it” – Desire. In order to choose “the way of truth”, you have to know and understand the other choice (the shameful ways of sin, rebellious pride and egocentric flesh desires) – “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things”. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has its choice also. Nobody is perfect; all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we cannot save ourselves. So, God provided a way by sending His Son from Heaven to Earth to be the atoning sacrificial substitute for our sins, that we may be forgiven and saved, but we must see how vile our sin truly is, be ashamed of it, repent of it and accept the gift of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ – the Lord of lords.  

 

 Knowing the truth of God allows the ability to make the choice to dedication of our life to God’s perfect Word, Will and Way, to be devoted to learn and live out our sure faith, and have that heart’s desire to walk in righteousness because God’s desire is our desire. The three D’s to success are more than mere inspirational words. They are a way of the truly blessed life for the children of god, the citizens of Heaven and the disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Dedicated, Devoted and always in Desire for Christ, Brian