LOYALTY TO GOD PART 1
Greetings dear friends! I hope your week has started on a good note. I am grateful to God for your life and I want to use this opportunity to wish the amazing men a Happy Father’s day. I pray that every man will find their purpose in God and fulfill their destiny. May they be noted for an excellent and praise-worthy character in their families and in society. God bless you dear Father/potential fathers! Dear Holy Spirit, take control of this write-up and the life of the reader. Amen
Welcome once again, we will be discussing the concept of Loyalty to God and the kingdom business. We will see many biblical characters of those who were both loyal and disloyal to God. Let’s dive right in!
Memory Verse: Matthew 6 v 24: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (NIV).
DEFINITION OF LOYALTY
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary(2021), the word loyalty- a noun- is the quality or state of being loyal. To be Loyal is defined as being unswerving in allegiance. This is being faithful to either a government, or to a person, or a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product. Synonyms of being loyal include constant, dedicated, devoted e.t.c.
To bring your minds back, our memory verse in Matthew 6 v 24 stated that a person cannot serve two masters because He/She will have to be devoted(loyal) to one and forsake the other. God demands our loyalty as children of God because one of the nature of God is faithfulness, he is faithful to us all the time and he expects that his children will be faithful. That is why Hebrews 10:23 says Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful(NIV). If you are a loyal person to God, it means that you are:
- Ready to serve him wholeheartedly in all circumstances whether good or bad. Exodus 20 v3 — you shall have no other gods before me(NIV)
- Committed to the things of God and be interested in the kingdom’s business. I.e you are willing to serve in God’s house. Hebrews 11:6“…Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”(NLT)
Loyalty is a very rare trait amongst people in the world because a lot of people stay with you only when they can only benefit from you and not when you are in trouble. This should not be so because Proverbs 18:24 says: A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother(NIV). Since I have realized that loyalty is not a common trait amongst many people in the world, I strive to be different by exhibiting loyalty as one of my values. When God places amazing and loyal people in my life, I ask him for the strength to be loyal to them and be a blessing to them. For example, my mum in Ghana is an impeccable woman who has been loyal to me, and in turn, I have to be loyal to her always. Additionally, the Holy Spirit has been the most constant and consistent partner in my life and I strive daily to be loyal to him and love him with all my life. What about you, think about how loyal God, the people around you have been to you. Now ask yourself have you been loyal to them? I pray that God makes us loyal to him and the people he has paced in our lives in Jesus' Name. Amen.
PEOPLE WHO WERE LOYAL TO GOD IN THE BIBLE
There are a few distinguishing characters of people who were loyal to God in their lives and we will explore a few of them. Let’s go!
- Jesus
- Jesus’s disciples
- David
- Daniel
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego(The three Hebrew Men)
- Kings Hezekiah
- King Josiah
- Mary, the mother of Jesus
- Job
- Joseph and several others in the Bible
Let us read verses in the Bible that proved the characters listed above were loyal to God.
*Jesus said in John 6 v 38: For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me (NIV). Jesus was loyal to his father and his assignment.
*Jesus's disciples- Acts 5:29 -But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”(ESV). The disciples were loyal to God even in persecution.
*David- Acts 13 v 22: “… I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will” (NIV). David served God faithfully and earned the name of being a man after God’s heart.
*Daniel — Daniel 6 v 10: Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime(NIV). Daniel remained loyal to God in prayer even a decree had been passed in Babylon that he should not pray to his God for a particular time. Since Daniel was far away from his family and amongst people who did not fear God, he could have easily stopped praying but he remained loyal.
- The three Hebrew men- Daniel 3 v 16 -18: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up (KJV). If you are not familiar with the story, the three Hebrew boys were in Babylon and a decree was passed that they should worship a golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar set up but they refused and remained loyal to God.
Dear friends, we will continue with the remaining characters in the next post. Your key takeaway today should be that God requires our loyalty in all circumstances. He loves children who are ready to stand for him always. Remember you cannot serve two masters at the same time. If you have not been faithful, it is not too late to realign your ways with God. He loves you and will gladly have you back as he did in the story of the prodigal son.
Thank you very much for reading. Share the word with someone!
Have a blessed week and God loves you best.
