The dedication that you exhibit should never stand above your obedience to the Lord.
Being dedicated is what many are to their loved ones, to their employment field, to the day-to-day tasks, and while in many ways there can be honor in this, there is generally very little of eternal value connected to them. Dedication and obedience do have one thing in common though, they are expressed through our free will, they are diametrically opposed though in an emotional context, dedication to anything brings some form of a positive emotional state, for you are in part connected to that which you are dedicated to, though not in a symbiotic manner.
In other words, what you have dedicated yourself to probably does not need you as much as you need it.
“For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.” (Psalm 49:10) People are rarely, if ever dedicated to anything for very long when they receive nothing in return. Those who have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ can only prove this dedication by being obedient to Him. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
There are a lot of people in hell right now, and more heading there every day, who believe they were saved because of an emotional attachment to the Lord, they were dedicated to their church, but not obedient to the Lord. This is in part the foundation of the charismatic movement, an emotion-based faith with little obedience to the will and Word of God unless it provokes a positive emotional state. They are obedient when it feels right, and so 2 Timothy 3:12 is not one of their favorite verses, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
Those who are obedient to the Lord do not ask why, they ask when, they know what they have been called to do because they not only study to show themselves to be approved workers for the glory of God, but they do not question why the Lord asked them to do something. They know that if He has indeed called them, He will provide all the necessary means to enable them to perform the task He has laid before them. Their obedience proves their dedication, not the other way around.
If you will spend any amount of time reading about the accounts of some of the prophets called by the Lord in the Old Testament, you will understand what I am attempting to convey here. Moses obeyed whom he was not dedicated to yet at the burning bush, and throughout the next forty years he proved that dedication by being obedient, and it was written of him that he was the servant of the Lord. Abram heeded the call of the One he knew not, and headed west to an unknown destination, obeying first, and later dedicating his life to the Almighty. He was called the friend of God.
Those who dedicate themselves expect some form of reward for their endeavors, it can be as simple as going to your place of employment each day and expecting to be paid for your time. Moses sat face to face with the Creator of the universe, Abraham received more than he could ever hope for. “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Gen. 15:1)
I offer you here the life of Saul, whose name was changed to Paul. Up until that moment on the road to Damascus, he had dedicated all that he was to the law, to the life of a Pharisee, knowledgeable in all of the Mosaic law. But when he met Jesus, when he became obedient to the Lord, he counted all that dedication as dung.
My friends, you cannot be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ unless you love Him, and you cannot be dedicated to Him unless you obey Him.
