Vanishing Loyalty

Loyalty is a very important personal quality. We all need to be very loyal in many ways. This is especially true in our relationships. We must exhibit complete loyalty to our spouse when we get married, or we will have a failed marriage. Of course, we need to be loyal to our family, and we must do what we can for them to be fulfilled in their lives. There is a measure of loyalty needed for our job, too.  However, there is one area in which our loyalty is absolutely essential. That is our loyalty to the Lord and our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our loyalty to Jesus must be eternal. Israel and Judah had a loyalty problem in the days of Hosea. (Hosea 6:4) God was very angry with them, because their loyalty was like a morning cloud that burned off quickly and like the dew which goes away early in the morning. We need to learn from their negative example, so we can be fully loyal.

Our trust in the Lord is not just a mental belief in Jesus. It is a commitment of our heart. Once we decide to love Him with all out heart, and to put our faith in Jesus alone for our eternal salvation, we must be loyal to Him in everything the rest of our life. If we do not have that type of loyalty, it is doubtful that we are really in a saving relationship with Jesus. If our loyalty fades, we will start to believe in the wrong things. We will go after other gods like Israel and Judah did. It will take us away from the Lord. When that happens, if we are saved, the Spirit will convict us of our lack of loyalty, and we can repent and fully return to the Lord. If we are not truly saved, we can drift away and never come back. I am afraid we see that happen to many people in our world  and in our churches. They have vanishing loyalty, because they were never completely loyal to Jesus, and they will not make it to heaven.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Hosea 8-11