Are You Ready to Overcome Your Fear of Commitment?
Good Morning Friends,
Success in the Kingdom of God is based on something very different than the world’s way of gaining success. It is based on an enduring relationship with the Divine… a process of commitment to a covenant of love and less on thinking. It is revelation that helps one experience the power of the resurrected life flood us. It allows us to let go of the past and enter a future where we are not in charge. Friends, surrendering to God is acknowledging the sanity of letting go and moving forward with a focus on the future. And with this focus there is Holy Spirit power in making a promise to Jesus to obey his command. Here we discover the blessings of God but also discover that there is a cost to follow. Jesus confronts us and comforts us. Make no mistake. It is worth it. Do not turn back. So, Are You Ready to Overcome Your Fear of Commitment?
Scripture: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12 (NRSV)
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’
John 13: 34-35 (NRSV)
Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
Luke 9:62 (NRSV)
When they had brought them outside, they said, ‘Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.’
Genesis 19:17 (NRSV)
Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Samuel 12:24 (NRSV)
What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ‘Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:27-33 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s message is about commitment. It is about your commitment to God and God’s commitment to you. The question is whether we are faithfully committed are only half-heartedly committed. God wants surrender. He wants our commitment to extend beyond self to family, church, and to an experience with Him.
Turning back on ones Christian commitment is not an option one wants to consider for it leads to death. Instead it is so much better to become useful for the Kingdom of God. Maybe then we too would be recognized as one of His disciples through our actions of obedience and love. Today’s scripture gives us some insight into honoring those who have left a legacy in us, those who have died but given us so much before we could repay them…the reality that through them God first loved us and that the only way to acknowledge that is to pay it forward. Here the answer to the dilemma of how to honor Jesus is found in His command that we love one another. Honoring the how of the love is the tough part. That is where the focus on the future comes into play…the concept of asking that a good turn or debt be repaid by having it done or paid to others instead. Jesus’ example on this is consistent…He loved His disciples as a servant, washing their feet. He died for the sins of the world and we can’t pay that back. But in response to this unpayable debt we can love one another. Notice that the focus is forward. As further guidance Jesus
also said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” You may remember about Lot’s wife and the severe consequence for looking back. Even a glance is deadly. You cannot plow a straight field if you look back. You cannot sail a straight course if you look back. You cannot love with usefulness unless you are looking forward. There is absolutely no reward for the Kingdom in a look back for a pay back. So you have a choice on your focus. The choice is not in the past but in the future always. God is far more interested in our future. He specializes in new beginnings. Can you not perceive it? Look at the situations in your life. God is doing a new thing and for that yesterday’s faith is insufficient.
Pray unceasingly that in the face of opposition we take a stand for God. Pray that we fight the good fight with love and truth. Pray that we desire to tell the good news about peace. Pray that our faith in God’s saving power would be strong enough to protect us. Pray that we be given the message to speak fearlessly in the face of opposition with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Pray that we are worthy to be called Disciples of Christ. Pray that we bravely profess our faith in Him as Savior and Lord. Pray that the witness of our lives be evidence of our faith and commitment.
Pray
we consider our past, celebrate our present and rejoice in our future. Pray we keep moving forward. Pray that if we make that long term commitment to God’s Kingdom day by day the darkness in us will be swallowed up in Christ’s light. Pray the Holy Spirit gives us a Christ like perspective, skill and attitude. Pray we mature in faith hearing the prophecy that God has for us in scripture. Pray our commitment turns dreams into realities. Pray we are inspired by the Word to begin living an abundant life that is blessed to be a blessing to others.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 