KEEP YOUR COMMITMENTS

KEEP YOUR COMMITMENTS
February 26, 2018

Prayer: We are so grateful that You are faithful to us, O Lord. Please guide us in Your wisdom with our energy this day. Thank You. Amen.

Scripture: Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:5-6 NIV

I was responsible to sign people up for a booth at an event. I had dozens of people to call on, so I was not worried about filing the time slots. Imagine my surprise when the people I called said they would “drop in” or they would “visit and help for a while.” I needed a commitment, not visitors. One lady told me that I did not need to sign specific people up, that it always worked out – somehow. Well I am not a “somehow” person. I was given a job and wanted to do it so that those in charge were not at the mercy of people’s whims, moods, and distractions. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Have you ever had people promise to help or show up for a special project or just to help in your classroom and they did not show up? What happened? Why?

I have found it interesting that in hosting many events, conferences, and parties, most people do not RSVP or buy tickets until the last minute because they are not sure they can commit. Why? Are we waiting for a better offer, to see of something else comes up or to see if we are too tired to attend, or to see if we can fit one more thing into that day? Do we have so many commitments that we cannot commit to anything so we just get to the ones that we can and the others fall to the wayside? Do we spread ourselves too thin?

Our time is deemed valuable; we even talk about it like it was money – we count the minutes, spend time together and even waste time. Yet, all of our time, every minute is a gift from God. No one is gifted more than another – we all have twenty-four hours in a day, 365 days in a year. How do you spend your time? How much of it is given back in relationship and service to God? How much is wasted on useless things?

I preach a lot about having too many things going on in our lives; too much stuff, too much to do, too many places to go. I am guilty of falling into this trap many times. There are weeks in every year that I am overwhelmed by all the places I need to be and all the things I need to do. I regroup by prioritizing, starting with my commitments to God and the work He has called me to do, beginning with my relationship time with Him and my family. Secondly, I look at my commitments to ministry and so on. If I have more commitments than time, I worry that I am not being obedient. But if I do not commit to anything, am I really following God’s will for my life. It is His time to be used by Him and for Him.

God calls us to commitments – to sign up, go the distance, and follow through. Christ did not say, “I’ll wander up to Golgotha and see if I can give a hand when I have time.” He set His face like flint and went. God is committed to you. Every word in the Bible, every promise, every commitment, you can count on. He will not let you down, get a better offer, forget, or decide He is just too tired. You can count on Him! How does that make you feel? If He has said, “I will,” you can be sure He will.

In a world of broken commitments, is it any wonder that people have a hard time believing in a God that they cannot see when we tell them to trust Him. We must take our commitments seriously. We must be the example, the Christ-like example, so that the world may know a God who will never break His commitment to us.

My prayer for you is that you would commit your ways and time to the Lord and keep your commitments.