Daring To Commit Series

DARING TO COMMIT

When was the last time to went to an all you can eat buffet? It is funny to watch people in line. They stand in front of the salad area they and think, I really don’t want to fill up my plate; there might be something better later on. Then they go down a little bit further to the pastas and vegetables and they are thinking, there might be something better further down. The they get down to meats and they think, I had better leave room for dessert. They get down to the end of the deserts and they look at their plates and realize that they got hardly anything from the line because they were always waiting to see what came next.

That is OK in a buffet line because you can go back through as many times as you want. However, that is not OK with life. In life you only get one shot. There are people who go through life afraid to commit to anything because they are always looking for something better to come along down the road. I can’t commit to this because it means that I may be missing out on that. What if I commit to something and I make a mistake? What if I end up regretting my choice?

Today we are continuing in our series Daring Faith and I want to talk about Daring to Commit. Your life is shaped by your commitments. We become whatever we are committed to. If you commit yourself to nothing then what do you think you will become? Nothing of course. Someone once said “Great people are just ordinary people who have made a great commitment to a cause greater than themselves.”

You cannot live a life without making some kind of commitments. You can’t buy a house without making a commitment. You can’t buy a car without making a commitment. You can’t have a job without making a commitment. You cannot have kids without commitments. It is a part of life.

Romans 6:13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

Romans 6:13 (MSG) Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time -- remember, you've been raised from the dead! -- into God's way of doing things.

The greatest commitment in life is committing yourself to Jesus Christ. To give yourself completely to God to be used for the purposes that he made you, that he created you. Let me suggest the following 4 commitments;

1. Commit to EXALTING

To strengthen my faith, I must commit myself to uniting with others in worship. Worship is for God but it brings benefits to you. I could give you fifty benefits of worshiping God. Let me just mention two. It renews your faith and it restores your joy. When you come to worship like this and you get together with other people to worship, it renews your faith and it restores your joy.

Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Have you ever gotten up on a Sunday morning and said, ‘I am so tired.’ I really don’t have any energy to go to church today. And yet you went to worship and afterwards you were more energized. How many would say that? Yeah. Of course. Because it renews your strength.

You are not going to get your strength renewed by watching golf on TV. Getting an extra hour of sleep can help. It can recharge your body but not your soul. Strength is renewed not simply by resting but by hoping – by being inspired through worship.

Sometimes I think of myself like the coach on Rocky. Rocky is out there in the ring and he is fighting his heart out but taking a beating. Then the bell rings and he goes to the corner. He is hurting and disoriented. The coach tells him he is doing a great job. He splashes some water on his face. Wipes off the blood and then pats him on the back and tells him “You have got this. Now get out there and win this fight.” And Rocky jumps to his feet reenergized and goes back out swinging.

For many people, that is what church is. The bell rings and you go to your corner. You get refreshed and infused with new hope and vision and then you get sent back out to win the fight. Worship is like the jumper cables when your battery is dead. You come and worship, you hear the Word and you are refreshed.