Opener – Artos Academy (BETA)
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Life-Minded: Belonging to God and Each Other

  1. Lesson one
    Devotion
    10 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Curiosity
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    Discernment
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  4. Lesson Four
    Peace
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Service
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  6. Lesson Six
    Forgiveness
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  7. Lesson Seven
    Awe
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  8. Lesson Eight
    Grace
    9 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  9. Course Wrap-up
    Course Completion
    2 Activities
Lesson Progress
0% Complete
This activity supports learning objectives 1 and 2.
Note

Course Workbook (optional)

Download the Course Workbook (PDF) to your device to keep a digital record of your responses to the Opener, Scripture Meditation, and Make a Plan activities in this course.

Before engaging with the lecture, read this introduction to practicing devotion, then respond in your workbook or journal to the warm-up questions that follow. 

What does it mean to practice devotion? The official definition, according to Merriam-Webster, is this: “religious fervor: piety; an act of prayer or private worship; . . . the act of dedicating something to a cause, enterprise, or activity; . . . the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal.”1

In Christian circles we might say it this way: Devotion is steadfast commitment to an object of worship.

As human beings, we were created to live lives of devotion. We were crafted to be worshipers at heart. We were meant to connect, to attach, to invest ourselves, to join with others. None of that is in question. Rather, the question is to what or whom we will devote ourselves. This is what we must decide.

To follow God is to adhere to the instructions laid out in the Word of God, the Bible. And to understand God’s Word is to see that our devotion is to be reserved for God—and God alone. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name,” writes David in 1 Chronicles 16:29. “Bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”

“All the earth bows down to you,” the psalmist writes in Psalm 66:4. “They sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.”

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks,” says Jesus in John 4:23. 

“Worship the Lord your God and serve him only,” Jesus says in Luke 4:8.

We are to glorify God.
We are to bow down to God.
We are to praise God.
We are to serve God.
We aren’t just to be worshipers. We are to exclusively worship God. 
We aren’t merely to be devoted. We’re to live devoted to God alone. 

As believers, we long to live this way, even as distraction tempts us at every turn. 

Is this kind of steady and fullhearted devotion to God even possible? we wonder. Is the gap between how I wish to live and how I actually live one that can ever be closed?

In this session, we’ll explore not only those questions but these as well: 

  • Why are we supposed to live solely devoted to God?
  • How do we cultivate full devotion to God?
  • How can we know if we are practicing full devotion to God?
  • What can we expect from a fully devoted life lived for Christ?

Let’s dig in!

1. Merriam-Webster, s.v. “devotion,” accessed February 28, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devotion.

Reflect

Considering your current season of life and the specific circumstances you’re facing, would you say that your days feel more filled or fulfilled lately?

What rhythms, habits, priorities, or observations are fueling your assessment of your days?