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LOYALTY

SCRIPTURE READINGS
JOSHUA 24:1-2, 14-18
EPHESIANS 6:10-20
JOHN 6:56-69

SUNDAY REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is Loyalty. Loyalty implies steadfast faithfulness in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray. Loyalty is a sense of duty or devoted attachment to God. We shall reflect on the facts that:

1. God sees our loyalty through our faithfulness and service to Him.
2. God sees our loyalty through our obedience to Jesus’ teachings and faith in Him as the source of eternal life.
3. We must constantly wear the armour of God and rely on prayer to sustain our loyalty to God.

Firstly, beloved in the Lord, our loyalty to God is seen in our faithfulness and service to Him. Joshua made this point during the renewal of God’s covenant with the Israelites at Shechem. He said to them ““Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD… But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15). “Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!… “We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.” (Joshua 24:16,18). Dear friend in Christ, apart from idolatry that shows disloyalty to God, our obsession with wealth, power and pleasure to the detriment of our faithfulness and service to God is an act of disloyalty to god. We become disloyal to God when we take away our attention from God or serve Him half-heartedly with all manner of excuses because money, business and pleasure have become the gods we worship in our times. You must take a decision today, and like Joshua and the Israelites, say boldly, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”. We must serve the Lord and remain faithful to Him with our time, energy, wealth, spiritual gift, knowledge, expertise and talents. God must reign supreme in our lives and must be first in our scheme of affairs. In demonstrating our faithfulness and service as a sign of loyalty to God, Jesus admonished us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12:30) Dear friend, what is your attitude towards worship service? Have you availed yourself to serve in the House of God through the various committees, positions and ministries? Are you punctual during worship services? Do you spend part of your time with the Lord through daily morning devotions? All these are indicators of our faithfulness and service to God. Sunday worship service is not enough, a life of loyalty is holistic and constant. We must be faithful and dutiful till our last breath on earth.

Secondly, in addition to demonstrating our loyalty through faithfulness and service, another important sign of demonstrating our loyalty to God is through obedience to Jesus’ teachings and having faith in Him as the source of eternal life. After Jesus taught about Himself as life and the source of salvation, John wrote, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66-69) In other words, Peter meant that the only way to demonstrate their loyalty to Jesus is to obey His teaching and believe in Him as the source of eternal and the Holy One of God. Today, there are many Christians in the world but how many of us are genuinely committed to the teachings of Christ and daily demonstrate our faith in Him? There are more Churches than ever yet sin or evil abounds in our time. Many of us are nominal Christians but few are faithful disciples of Christ like Peter and the others. Many of us are constantly betraying Jesus like Judas, our hearts are obsessed with materialism hence we have traded our loyalty for worldly pleasure and wealth. No wonder Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21). Like Peter and the other disciples, let us demonstrate our loyalty to Jesus by saying to Him today, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

Thirdly, can we remain loyal by relying on our strength or ability? The answer is no! It is for this reason that we must constantly wear the armour of God and rely on prayer to sustain our loyalty to Him. Paul enlightened the Christian at Ephesus when he wrote, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-12) For an in-depth understanding of the armour of God, kindly follow the link, https://nobiblenobreakfast.com/2022/10/29/the-armour-of-god-ephesians-610-20/. It will suffice to mention that the armour of God includes truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation and the word of God. In addition, prayer strengthens to also remain loyal to the Lord. Paul underscored the importance of prayer when he wrote, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18-20). In other words, for us to remain loyal to God we need to consistently live a righteous life through the power of the gospel, we need to have faith and hold on to our salvation even as we continually feed on the Word of God and remain in communication with God through prayer.

In conclusion, we have discovered that God sees our loyalty through our faithfulness and service to Him, God sees our loyalty through our obedience to Jesus’ teachings and faith in Him as the source of eternal life. Last but not least, we must constantly wear the armour of God and rely on prayer to sustain our loyalty to God. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to remain loyal to the Lord at all times. Amen.