In June, 1974, I first saw the girl who would become my wife. After a fun Summer of dating, we were engaged, and married in January, 1975. Recently I found an old cassette tape that contained an audio recording of our wedding. I was reminded that the covenant we made before the Lord that day had no escape hatches. We did not create a prenuptial agreement, ‘just in case.’ (Not that either of us had any assets to protect. We were poorer than poor, but did not know it.) For us, the part about being faithful 'til death do us part, so help me God' was more than words. Some days I am a better husband than others, but the feelings of the moment do not change the covenant made on January 10, 1975.
I've only made one other promise like that, my commitment to Jesus Christ. He is my Lord. I must admit that some days I am a better disciple than others. My commitment to Him is not always as obvious as it could be, but even when I am faithless He is faithful. My up’s and down’s don't change the fact of His Lordship of my life.
Statements of irrevocable commitment are sobering, aren't they? A commitment can be comforting and it can be suffocating. Commitment ends selfishness. When we make a covenant, we surrender our autonomy. On the positive side, remember that commitment makes great things possible!
-A bank will loan us money for a major purchase if our credit score indicates we have regularly met our financial responsibilities.
-A well tended marriage brings tremendous stability and support to a couple’s shared lives.
-Serving Christ faithfully gives life a meaning and purpose that cannot be found IN ANY OTHER choice.
-Forming strong, deep partnerships with others at work or in ministry, creates the possibilities of amazing results. The Bible says, "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." (Eccl. 4.12)
A story of radical commitment found in 1 Kings 19:19-21. Elijah, the old prophet, is nearing the end of his leadership in Israel. God tells him it is time to recruit the man who will succeed him in the prophetic office. “So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"
So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.”
He slaughtered his oxen and burned his plow! What a way to make a commitment. Elisha destroyed the tools of his former life in a sacrificial offering. There was NO going back when that was done, no 'I think I changed my mind' was possible.
When it comes to serving the Lord, are you hanging onto a contingency plan that will allow you to escape if you change your mind? What, if anything, have you held in reserve from His mastery? Only those who are irrevocably committed to Christ and His kingdom, only those with ‘burnt plows,’ know and enjoy the greatest blessings of a life of faith. Disciple, make the choice to give yourself – wholeheartedly and without reserve- to the Lord Jesus Christ. Give Him your past and leave it. Commit your future to Him to be guided into it. One of the best examples of commitment in the Bible is Joshua, the man who followed Moses in leading Israel. As he came to the end of his life, he called the nation’s leaders together and challenged them to burn their plows, so to speak. Take a look.
"So honor the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. . . .But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:14-15
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This is the air I breathe!
This is the air I breathe!
Your holy presence living in me,
And I I'm desperate for You,
And I I'm lost without You!
This is my daily bread!
This is my daily bread!
Your very word spoken to me,
And I I'm desperate for You,
And I I'm lost without You!
Breathe © 1995 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Music Services)
Marie Barnett
CCLI License No. 810055
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