Where Is Your Allegiance?
I hate the two-faced,
but I love your clear-cut revelation.
You’re my place of quiet retreat;
I wait for your Word to renew me.
Get out of my life, evildoers,
so I can keep my God’s commands.
Take my side as you promised; I’ll live then for sure.
Don’t disappoint all my grand hopes.
Stick with me and I’ll be all right;
I’ll give total allegiance to your definitions of life.
Expose all who drift away from your sayings;
their casual idolatry is lethal.
You reject earth’s wicked as so much rubbish;
therefore I lovingly embrace everything you say.
I shiver in awe before you;
your decisions leave me speechless with reverence. (Ps. 119:113-120 MSG)
We all give our allegiance to something. That something could be the people around us or the work we do. It could be a political party or volunteer work of some kind. Maybe it is something not so positive, like alcohol or drugs. No matter what, the things that take our time hold our allegiance. We elevate certain things in our lives to a place that makes them more important than anything else.
The question then becomes, what is the most important thing in my life? A follow-up might be, what should be the most important thing in my life?
Now the wrestling begins.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, allegiance means loyalty or devotion to a person, group, or cause. Seemingly then, our allegiance can lay in many different places. I can surely say this is true for me. My family is of utmost importance to me. I find great significance in homeschooling my kids. I value my relationship with my husband, and I work so that our marriage will be lovely and pleasing to us both. I treasure my relationship with Jesus and my knowledge of who he is, what his story is, and that story’s weightiness in my life. The list could go on and on, and I am constantly wrestling with which of these things should be my first priority.
Here is where, during my wrestling, I move God right up to the top of the list because I know in my head and in my heart that he should be at the top. I know this from experience as well as from all the studying I have done through the years. When I look back, I can see so many examples of times he has saved me, both from myself and from the world. The joy I experience when I live according to what God says, rather than what I might think I want or need, cannot be underscored enough. He deserves recognition for loving me, discipling me, and challenging my small ideas about how the world should look. He is a bigger God than I give him credit for. He deserves my allegiance.
The awesome thing is that when my allegiance is to him first, all the other things fall in line. I am a better mama to my kids. I am kind to my husband, and I attempt to meet his needs, and he reciprocates because God’s way works like that. My homeschool is a more peaceful place than it would otherwise be, and out of that peace flows loving and calm relationships between me and my kids, but also amongst the kids themselves.
The world offers us so many ways to love and serve others just by walking out our front door. Offering up the love of Jesus can be as easy as first reminding ourselves what Matthew 22:36-40 says:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV)
Sometimes I simply tell myself these two commands, and then I find it fairly easy to smile at the neighbor or tell the cashier how nice she looks today. More often than not, it is the little things that show where our allegiance is. The straightforward offering of our lives and our hearts to the great God we serve gives him leeway to have the love of Jesus show up through us.
Lord, Show us where our allegiance should be. Let us model our lives after the life of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit within us and chase after your kingdom come here on earth. Help us reject wickedness and stand firm with truth and justice that will show your love and plan for the world. Amen.
Scripture for Reflection
“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.” (Rom. 6:17 NIV)
Read Isaiah 19 and imagine that this is your home country. Which of the cities would you like to be in then?
Reach for More
If you are not a believer in Jesus, ask yourself if you are willing and/or interested in looking into who he is and what his story is. Then do it. Many resources are available that will point you in the right direction and help you learn the Bible story. I guarantee that when you set your allegiance toward him, you will learn how to love in a way that is deeper and more beautiful that you ever have before.
If you are already a believer, rest for a moment in a time of examining your life and how you are spending it. I chose the word rest here on purpose because I find that thinking and examining my life and its daily occurrences really helps me to see where my allegiance is or has been, and the undoubtable ability to rectify that if needed brings me so much peace. If I want my loyalty to be to God, then are there changes I need to make in the daily practices of my life? Where is my attention focused? How can I redirect it back to Jesus and live as his follower?
enjoys a crazy, beautiful life with her military husband, four sons, and a daughter. A baby interrupts her homeschool days in the best ways, and she is always attempting to live with mindfulness of each moment. She hopes to look at the world and each person in it in light of our amazing Creator, and therefore, to see each moment presented as an opportunity to love and serve him more. Carla relishes time to ponder God’s Word and have quiet moments with him and her coffee. She loves doing life with other mamas and encouraging them to simply be who God has made them to be.
Photograph © Jeremy Bishop, used with permission
