Allegiance

My friend, Tammy, recently was struck by the word "remain." She realized it was an idea she wanted to hold close to her heart for awhile, a lens through which she reads, a filter through which she hears. She was the associate campus minister where I went to college, and she and I both participated in meetings in which a leader challenged us to think of a word, one word, that summed up where we were or where we wanted to be going, a word representative of what God was teaching us at that time, a word representing an concept that needed to be important to us that semester.

Reading Tammy's blog inspired me to start thinking, what word sums up the challenge God is laying on my heart right now. Trust seems to be close, but it's not quite it. I chose trust during one of those semesters, and what I'm looking towards now seems to require more than trust. I thought about faith. Faith would more accurately describe it, yet faith is such an overused word that I don't know that ruminating on the word faith would give me the encouragement I need. I am confident that this year is going to be a year of choices, choices that could affect my career, my location, and my relationships. Because of the choices I make, it is quite possible that a year from now my life will be remarkably similar to the days I live right now. However, by the power of choice, in the course of a year my life might bear little resemblance to the life I live at the present. The choices unnerve me a little. I question my wisdom. I question my motivation. I question my commitment to Christ - whether I have enough to endure the road ahead.

To what am I being challenged as I may or may not being walking into a new chapter in my life? I am being called to listen to the Lord, but not just listen, earnestly seek, search, and pursue. And then, it is not good enough to seek, find, and listen; I must obey. And, it is not good for me to obey on my terms, but I must obey on God's terms alone. I do not know how to sum it up in one word: I am being challenged to every day earnestly search after the Lord, and then, to love him with all of my heart, my mind, my soul, and my strength. Seek, pursue, chase down. Recklessly obey. Bow down in prayer, in worship, in praise. Rise up in prayer, in worship, in praise. To let His praise be on my lips, and let His love change me, and let my love for Him be the motivation in every decision I make. To praise Him and trust Him when His plans don't complement my angle on how things are supposed to go in my life. To praise Him when I must sacrifice what I want.

The word that comes to mind as I think of all this is allegiance. Allegiance to my God - in every moment, every day of my life. Let my loyalty always fall with Him. Let me strive to make my commitment pure, and let not even future failure keep me from pressing forward. Let my decisions mark my allegiance to Him; and when I have to choose between Him and myself, or Him and another, let me always choose Him.