Wednesday 31 May 2017

Total Commitment


Scripture: Book of Ruth 1 v 16-17: "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17  Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."

Roman 6 v 13: "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

In many areas of life we need to make a firm commitment :-  To study well at school; to be a faithful spouse; to succeed in a career; to serve the Lord our God wholeheartedly; to perform our work ethic to a high standard. Our character is revealed by how well we keep our commitments.

Ruth, by her own will and desire after the death of her husband, chose to commit her life to following Naomi, her mother-in-law, to her own land, Israel. She left her land,  idols and religion to serve the one true God, and stated "where you go, I go, where you die, I die". Naomi had been a wonderful role model and mentor to Ruth, but she was surprised at Ruth's fervent desire to follow her to her homeland and to abandon her idols to serve Almighty God.

We need to commit our lives to Jesus the same way. All or nothing. Turn our backs on sin, corruption, lies and all evil to follow the righteous King into everlasting life. Too many people "rent a place at the altar" to re-commit their lives to Jesus every few weeks when they live their lives selfishly and 'in the flesh'.

Total commitment means that you see Jesus for who He is - the only begotten Son of God, who came to Earth to save sinners. He laid down His own life to break the power of death for every human being. He committed His all as a ransom to redeem us all. What should our response be to such a sacrifice?

We should be willing to lay our selfish lives aside and become part of God's eternal plan to save the world. It means giving up habits and behaviour that the sinful world call fun and games. The sinful world watch us critically to expose any bad behaviour that justifies them not following Jesus. They mock Christians who live as they do.

So we need to show the world the power of Jesus to change and transform us into a new creation of people that live holy, moral and dignified lives; forsaking sin and evil practices to honour the Lamb of God who saved them.

If Jesus is real to us we can make Him real to sinners by the pure light that shines through us. We are appointed to be witnesses to the world of how following Jesus has changed or benefited us.  If we neglect this aspect we must expect the Lord to discipline us.  Like the blessings dry up until you get the message.

If we continue to smoke cigarettes or marijuana; get drunk; sleep around or indulge in pagan religious activities disguised as Christianity then sinners will remain unmoved by our witness for the life of Jesus. Our work for Jesus is to be a true pure witness that draws sinners to the Cross where the Blood of Jesus cleanses of all sin.   

Prayer: Father God, as Jesus placed Himself in Your hands on this Earth; in Gethsemane; in the Judgment Hall, on Golgotha, and in Paradise awaiting His resurrection, so do I commit myself into Your hands, into Your kingdom forever. As the dead saints of old followed Jesus out of Paradise into Heaven and were seen by many on their way through, so do I follow Him through life and death and resurrection into Your Kingdom.  (Matthew 27 v 50 - 52).   In Jesus' name. Amen.