Commitment?

A good friend came over for a visit at the new house today. It was so good to hang out and have good conversation! This is something I have missed since moving to Troy. Of course I see Steve & we have good conversations with each other, but it's still important that both of use have friends we spend time with. Not trying to be one of those couples that cut themselves off from the rest of the world! :)


My friend and her husband work for a college ministry and we got on the topic of commitment. We talked about how our generation really lacks commitment. We jump from what's hype to the next thing that grabs our attention. This leaves us either jumping from one thing to the next or spread so thin among various activities without being fully committed to any of them. If we're honest, we also get selfish. When any of those activities interfere with what I find more important at the time (ie sleep, tv time, insert whatever your selfish indulgence is here) we blow it off. We could probably be defined as the generation of blowing things off.


It looks like this. I commit to a small group at church because I know God has called me to grow deeper with other Christians and have accountability. In fact, I'm really excited about being in the group & can't wait to get started. So I sign up to be a part of a group that meets to do this and has a set time every week that they meet. Let's say Monday night at 6:30. Well Monday night at 6 rolls around and I've had a long day at work, I'm tired, my house is a mess, and I'd really like to just cuddle on the couch watching tv with the new hubby. So what do I do? I blow off the small group I "committed" to for not necessarily bad things, but still I blow it off. This plays out millions of different ways everyday. I'm just as guilty as anyone.


This is a problem because being a disciple of Christ calls for commitment. Not jumping on a Christian bandwagon because it's the cool thing to do at the time, but total commitment of our lives. In fact, it is a total surrender of our lives to Him. It is a committed relationship to God. As I think about my own marriage relationship I just entered into, the vows we made were of total commitment to one another as long as we both shall live. But in this "blow it off" world we live in, even something as sacred and deep as marriage vows are blown off 50% of the time. We do the same to God. We say we want salvation. Who wouldn't want to not go to hell? But when it comes to the commitment, making Him Lord over our lives, we want to blow that part off. It doesn't work that way. Check out what Luke says...


"Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?" (Luke 9:23-25)


We have to give our lives to Jesus & follow Him. Period. There is no "but I'm really busy with my job or my family" or "but I'm really tired right now" or "but I just don't feel like it." Sometimes we aren't going to "feel" like giving everyday of our lives to following Christ. In those moments we need to get alone with God, get in His word, and beg Him to work in our hearts. We need to always point ourselves back to the wonderful truth of the Gospel. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) "...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Remind yourself that God came to this earth as a man, Jesus, and suffered and died so that we could be forgiven and have a right relationship with Him! It's the greatest news you could ever be told. It's even greater to accept it as truth and follow Jesus and be committed to it. He's so committed to us! "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) 


I pray that God will help me to be committed to Him and His work. Help me to love others how He loves us even when I don't feel like it. Help my husband & I to have a relationship built around biblical commitment and not the lack of commitment found in the world we live in. I pray that myself and other Christians would stop "blowing things off" and commit to following Jesus! Commit to loving others as He does, commit to meeting with other believers and having accountability, and ultimately commit to loving Him above everything!