Today, I set my heart anew upon loving Jesus well.

Sometimes we need to do this — and not just for the Lord, but also for husband or siblings or others we know we are called to love in this life.

Devotion is deliberate. And returning to devotion is often a type of sacrifice, because it usually requires a turning away from the preoccupations of life to being face-to-face with someone you’ve neglected. It may require turning away from things that pleasure you, or that goal you just have to reach NOW, or habits that have locked your heart down.

Devotion is a type of discipline. Like most disciplines, it brings its own reward, especially in the kingdom of God (where you always reap what you sow). Faithfulness begats faithfulness. Devotion begats devotion. What you offer out of yourself every day comes back to you, like bread cast upon the waters of life.

My experience is that the reward of renewed devotion is instant, because the rightness of it is satisfying to the soul. You were made for this, this giving of yourself to another. So when you devote your time, energy or affections to another, your soul and spirit rise up and smile inside. That is, unless bitterness or some terrible wound hinders that lovely thing.

Having said all that, one question may be helpful: what do you need to turn away from, in order to turn back to your devotion?

Or who do you need to go back to in your heart today? Of whom you need to say, “My assignment in this life is to love you well. I’m back. Here I am; my heart and attentions are yours. I will return to making my choices today with you in mind. I will watch to see how you are. I will be listening for your voice and heart. I return to wanting to know you more deeply. I set my love upon you.”

Is it God? Is it your spouse? Is it a relative whose “stuff” you grew weary of, or a friend who disappointed you?

I encourage you to break out of the ruts life has made in your soul, and set your heart’s devotion where it belongs.