Remaining loyal to God

“O Lord, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of Your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to You.” 1 Chronicles 29:18
There are few things that hurt us more than when people are disloyal to us. What do you do when a friend betrays you, or lets you down? Hopefully, they will repent – but it could be a while before you are able to trust them again like you did before. And it takes time for the hurt to dissipate.
But there is a greater form of disloyalty, and that is when a person fails to be loyal to God. We’ve all seen prominent leaders in the church, turn their backs on the faith. It is a great disservice to the body of Christ when this happens, as the church becomes a laughing-stock to the world. For some people it’s a sudden change, for others it’s more gradual. But we should make sure that neither of these happen to us. That’s why we too need to pray this prayer: that God would keep the desire for Him in our hearts, and that we will remain loyal to Him.
Jesus wrote to the church at Laodicea, whose hearts had slowly cooled: they were no longer hot, but were lukewarm. There are so many aspects about the church at Laodicea that describe the general state of the church in our times, but at the top of that list is apathy: towards God, towards His Word, towards evangelism and discipleship. How strong is your desire for the things of God, today? This is a challenge for all of us. Ask God to rekindle that fire within you, that desire for Him.