I Am Obligated

INTRO.- ILL.- One day, when one of his secretaries suggested dropping work for a diversion which he knew would appeal to President Woodrow Wilson, he replied, “My boss won’t let me do it.”

“Your boss?” questioned the friend, wondering who could be the boss of the chief executive of the United States.

“Yes, I have a conscience that is my boss,” said the President. “It drives me to the task, and will not let me accept the tempting invitation.”

Did you ever have any diversions that kept you from fulfilling your obligation to work? Did you ever stop work just so you could go play? Or do something else you preferred to do?

I appreciate the fact that Woodrow Wilson was committed to his work as President instead of stopping to play golf or whatever it is that many Presidents often do.

Granted, everyone needs some kind of diversion, hobby, etc. And I know that it’s been said, “All work and no play makes Jack a dully boy.” But it’s also true that “all play and little work” means that little work gets done.

Many people are more committed to play than they are work. Most can’t wait for TGIF, “Thank God it’s Friday,” because then they are off work and ready to go play.

I like to play as much as next person, but as we grow in Christ we must be about the Lord’s business in life. We must make hay while the sun shines, because it may not shine much longer for some of us and perhaps, for all of us.

Romans 13:11-14 “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Put away sin and foolishness and put on Christ, which means to do His work in this world. We are rightly more obligated to Him than we are to self or anyone else in this world.

Ephesians 5:15-17 “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

James 4:13-17 “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

These scriptures pretty well tell the story. Life is short. We must live for Christ. We are obligated to Him, not to this world.

PROP.- We are obligated in many ways in this life as Christians.

1- We are obligated to men

2- We are obligated to preaching

3- We are obligated to faith

I. WE ARE OBLIGATED TO MEN

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.

ILL.- The world was shocked when actress/singer, Whitney Houston, was found dead in her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, February 11th, 2012. Many different people either sang or spoke at her funeral service at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. One of those who spoke was actor, Kevin Costner, who played the part of her bodyguard in the movie, “The Bodyguard.” Kevin Costner started by saying that he and Whitney had something in common. He said something to the effect, “She’s a woman. I’m a man. She’s black and I’m white. So what do we have in common?” He said, “We were both raised in the Baptist Church.”

Costner went on to tell about his life as a child in the Baptist church and compared his life to Whitney’s in the Baptist Church. And of course, said some very nice things about her when she auditioned for the part in the movie and her life in general and in regard to the New Hope Baptist Church. No one says anything bad about the deceased at their memorial service, OR NOT OFTEN.