Make a Commitment
Making a Commitment is Good.
It helps us focus
It shows our love
Make a commitment to Submit to God’s Word
Make a commitment to Stay Pure in our relationships
Make a commitment to Sabbath rest
Make a commitment to Support the Lord’s work
Support it systematically
Support it with first fruits
Support it proportionately
Slide 1
I heard about this man who bought a parrot. It was a beautiful parrot but he had a really bad mouth. He could swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself. The man was embarrassed because the bird was driving him crazy in front of people.
He tried to appeal to the bird by asking him to clean up his language. The parrot promised to change but nothing happened. In fact, his swearing increased in both volume and frequency.
It finally got to be too much, so the guy grabbed the bird by the throat and started shaking him and yelled, “Quit it!” But this just made the parrot angry and he swore more than ever.
Then the guy got really mad and locked him in a kitchen cabinet. That really aggravated the bird and he started clawing and scratching and making all kinds of racket. When the guy finally let him out, the parrot let loose with a stream of swear words that made the man blush.
At that point, the guy was so ticked off that he threw him into the freezer. For the first few seconds the bird squawked and screamed and thrashed around. And then there was silence.
At first the guy just waited, but then he started to wonder if the bird was hurt. After a couple minutes of not hearing anything, he was so worried that he opened the freezer door. The bird calmly climbed onto the man’s outstretched arm and said, “I’m really sorry about all the trouble I’ve been giving you. I make a solemn promise and commitment to clean up my language from now on.”
The man was astounded. He couldn’t believe the transformation that had come over the parrot as a result of being in the freezer for only a couple minutes. The parrot then turned to the man and said, “I just have one question…what did the chicken do?”
We are going to be talking about commitments today.
We, like the bird, are only willing to make a commitment when we see what is in it for us.
So generally, People have a difficult time making commitments.
We see it in marriages – There are people who don’t want to be married because they fear commitment, or at least they fear the obligation that commitment brings.
We see it in churches – people do not want to commit to things that will require anything of them.
We are a world of people wanting to keep their options open all the time, so they don’t commit.
Making a Commitment is Good.
But commitments can be scary.
Slide 2
The Bible talks about commitments that we make in
Numbers 30:2
2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
And commitments are not to be taken lightly. Both the Old Testament and New Testament talk about that.
In the New Testament, Jesus warns against making empty promises
Matthew 5:33-37
33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ’Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ’Yes’ be ’Yes,’ and your ’No,’ ’No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Jesus is not saying that you can never make a vow. Some Pharisees lived very hypocritically and they said you only had to keep those vows or oaths or commitments made to the Lord.
Jesus is saying no. He is saying your character should be as such that when you say you will do something, you should not need to swear that you are going to do it to get people to believe you. Live in such a way that when you commit to something, you don’t have to back it up with all kinds of oaths and promises to have people believe you.
He is not saying never make a commitment to the Lord.
The Old Testament tells us not to lightly enter into commitments to the Lord.
Deut 23:21
21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.
And in
Ecclesiastes 5:4
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. (from New International Version)
So making a vow or commitment to the Lord is not wrong, but we should not enter into it rashly or in haste.
We see many examples of people making vows in the Bible.
In the New Testament, we see Paul had made a vow of some sort.
Acts 18:18
Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.
In the Old Testament we see
Abram made an oath to the Lord saying he would take nothing from the King of Sodom
Gen 14:22-23
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ’I made Abram rich.’
We also see the Israelites make an oath in Nehemiah 10, which we are going to be looking at today.
My question is this though, why should we make a commitment to the Lord if throughout history and throughout our own lives, we have difficulty keeping our commitments?
Because I think making a well thought through commitment is good for us for 2 reasons.
First,
It Helps Us Focus
Slide 3
We often sit here in service and sense that the Lord is speaking to us, maybe prodding us in a certain direction or urging us to do something but many times we fail to act on it because we don’t commit to doing it..
A neighbor friend
Last Easter, a gentleman I know was here and came up to me after the service. I had preached on the Resurrection and how we can experience some of that resurrection power in our lives as we draw into relationship with Christ through his church.
He said to me, that is what I need. I need to be in a church. I need to be leading my family.
Then he never showed up again.
Why? I think part of it is because he didn’t really commit to it. He recognized what the Lord was trying to tell him but did not make a commitment to it.
When we make a commitment to something it helps us to be specific so we know exactly what we are committing to.
I commit to start going to church regularly
I commit to leading devotions with my family.
I commit to following the Lord in obedience.
When we don’t commit, we find it easy not to do what the Lord wants us to do.
Secondly,
It Shows Our Love
Slide 4
When we commit to someone, we are telling them that I am not just relying on my feelings, I am willing to do what it takes to keep my commitment even when I don’t feel like it.
God shows us His love for us by keeping his commitments or covenants, even when we don’t hold up our end of the bargain.
The Old Covenant had obligations on God’s side and on His people’s side. They couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain, so God made a New Covenant showing his love for us that had no obligations on our side, they were all on His side.
Jesus instituted that with His death and resurrection. Now all we do is receive Jesus and we enter into the covenant that God has made.
That is how much He loves us. He showed it through making a commitment to us.
Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He made this covenant with us while we were still sinning against Him.
So Making commitments will help us to stay focused and show in our actions our love for the Lord.
While preparing for this message I was reading what another pastor had written on this subject and He said something I thought was excellent.
Now while it can help us to make commitments, “we don’t succeed as Christians because we make promises to God, but because we believe the promises of God and act upon them.”
Making commitments helps us to act on those promises of God.
There are some of us who have never really gotten serious in our walk with God and we fail to act on the promises He has made to us.
We hear what He wants us to do, but because we do not commit to specifically doing something, we don’t do it.
But what should we commit to?
Where do we start.
Slide 5
Let’s look at Nehemiah 10 and see what the Israelites committed to after returning to Jerusalem and discovering that they were not following the Lord like they should.
Nehemiah 9:38-10:39
38 "In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it."
The Israelites are getting serious. They are putting their commitments in writing.
Then in Nehemiah 10:1-27, Nehemiah names all of the people who signed the agreement.
And in this next section, we see the first thing that the Israelites commit to.
Nehemiah 10:28-29
28 "The rest of the people-priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand- 29 all these now join their brothers the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the LORD our Lord.
They made a commitment to submit to God’s word and that’s where we need to start. We need to
Make a commitment to Submit to God’s Word
Slide 6 - Nehemiah 10:28-29
They were serious in their desire to be obedient to what God’s word told them.
We may not always be successful because depending on where we are at in our maturity, we won’t know all of the word of God.
But being a fully devoted follower of Christ is
desiring to be obedient to the things you do know.
That is where we start and what we make a commitment to it.
Do you know who it is that God strengthens and uses to do awesome things?
Not those who are mighty
Not those who are strong
Not those who are beautiful.
No, listen to
2 Chronicles 16:9
9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
He is looking for just the regular person who is committed to Him that He can strengthen and use.
Is your heart fully committed to Him?
Or are you leaving your options open?
Are you keeping the back door cracked so you can get out if things become a bit uncomfortable?
If you are, then you are not fully committed and you will not be greatly used by the Lord.
Commit to being obedient to the Word of God.
We also need to
Make a Commitment to Stay Pure in our Relationships
Slide 7
Nehemiah 10:30
30 "We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons.
The Israelites were not being racists here. They recognized that those around them did not honor God and that often they were pulled away from God because of relationships with those who did not honor Him.
Joshua warned about this early in their history of coming to the promised land.
Joshua 23:12-13
12 "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.
Bad company corrupts good character.
We are influenced by other people, probably more than we would like to admit.
We care what people think about us
We care that people like us
We need to be very careful about our relationships with others. As a Christian we to make sure our closest relationships are with other Christians.
Impact
In our Impact group a few weeks ago, we did a series about our circles of Friends. We saw that we have
casual friends,
close friends, and
covenant friends.
When people are moving into that close friend category, they should either already be a Christian or at the very least moving in that direction because of what you personally have been sharing with them. And absolutely, someone who is a covenant friend, someone you share your deepest thoughts with, this would include those very close friends of the same sex as well as your potential spouse, needs to share your same values and beliefs concerning Jesus Christ.
That is how we are going to stay pure in our relationships.
Third, we need to
Make a Commitment to Sabbath Rest
Slide 8
Nehemiah 10:31
31 "When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.
While the Israelites where supposed to honor the Sabbath under the law,
on this side of the cross we are no longer under the law but under grace. And further more, of the 10 commandments, honoring the Sabbath is the only one that is not repeated and/or expanded in the New Testament.
So does that mean none of this applies to us? No.
We should still honor the principle behind the Sabbath.
We, as Christians will experience the Sabbath rest in its fullness when we get to heaven. We experience it spiritually now as we no don’t have to try and work our way into God’s good graces. We just receive it and enter into that rest.
But physically, we still need rest. God has designed us to need rest. There were multiple reasons that God gave the Israelites the Sabbath and we should think about and honor the principles behind them.
First, it was a day to honor and worship God.
It has been shown time and again that we will get so caught up in the world when we do not set aside time to come together to worship with others and honor the Lord. We need a day to be able to do that.
Second, it was a day to rest.
We also need rest physically. We are not designed to work every day. Our bodies cannot handle that. Yes, we can go for long periods of time working every day, but not without suffering we can’t. It takes a toll on our bodies and our minds to do such a thing and we become less and less productive.
The best thing is to have at least a day each week that you can rest your body, then you will be able to keep going and be more productive.
Illustration
One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man ate a leisurely lunch and took several breaks throughout the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other guy had chopped a lot more wood than he had. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.” To which the winning woodsman responded, “Didn’t you notice? I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest.” If you’re feeling a bit dull today, perhaps you need to schedule some rest into your schedule so that you can get ‘sharp’ again.
The last commitment that the Israelites made was to the support of the house of our God. And we need to
Make a Commitment to Support the Lord’s Work
Slide 9
Nehemiah 10:32-39
32 "We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moon festivals and appointed feasts; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.
34 "We-the priests, the Levites and the people-have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.
35 "We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the LORD each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.
36 "As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.
37 "Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our [grain] offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. 38 A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and oil to the storerooms where the articles for the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the singers stay.
"We will not neglect the house of our God."
We see a number of different things in how the Israelites were to support the work of the Lord that we can apply to our own lives.
First, We need to
Support it Systematically
Slide 10
Nehemiah 10:32
They gave a third of a shekel each year,
Nehemiah 10:34
Talks about that the people would bring
“at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the LORD our God”
They determined ahead of time when and what they would give.
They did not give as some whim hit them.
Paul tells us to do the same thing in
1 Corinthians 16:2
2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
You should be giving to the lord Regularly and systematically
Secondly, we need to
Support it with firstfruits
Slide 11
Nehemiah 10:35
35 "We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the LORD each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.
God doesn’t want your leftovers. That does not glorify God.
Imagine inviting a special guest over for dinner and saying wait until we eat and you can have what is left.
That’s what we do to God when we give after we see if we have enough to pay our bills. We should give God the first and the best portion and trust him for the rest.
Commit to giving God the first and best part of what you have.
Thirdly, We need to
Support it Proportionately
Slide 12
Nehemiah 10:37
And we will bring a tithe of our crops
We need to give proportionately also.
1 Corinthians 16:2 again says a person should give “in keeping with his income” – that is proportionately.
I believe in tithing.
I think it was taught and practiced before the Law, we see Abraham tithe in Genesis 14,
It was practiced under the law,
And Jesus affirmed its use in the New Testemant in
Matthew 23:23
23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
What is a tithe you ask?. It is 10%.
10% you say as your jaw drops to the floor.
I know when I first learned about tithing, I thought that was totally unreasonable. But as I began giving and taking steps toward tithing, I found that God continued to provide for me and my family just like He promises.
Malachi 3:10
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Make a commitment to take steps toward tithing.
I can promise you by the authority of the word of God that you will be blessed.
We need to "not neglect the house of our God" either. There are things that we need to take care of in this building that the Lord has given us because it honors and glorifies Him when we do and we can experience fruit from that labor.
Conclusion
So here are some places to start in making a Commitment to God.
It will help us focus on what we need to do and show our love to Him.
Make a commitment to Submit to God’s Word
Make a commitment to Stay Pure in our relationships
Make a commitment to Sabbath rest
Make a commitment to Support the Lord’s work
Maybe the Lord has been speaking to you this morning about some other commitments you need to make.
Don’t make them rashly, but don’t delay in making them, either.
Making a commitment is all about Surrender.
Until we realize that it is far better for us to live God’s way than our way we will be unwilling to surrender our will to Him and make any commitments.
And if our hearts aren’t fully seeking after Him, we aren’t going to be able to experience the true victory that is available in Christ Jesus.
There are too many Christians today that are living mediocre lives, because they refuse to surrender over to God and seek to follow after their own inferior will, when they could be experiencing the true riches of His grace.
Make a Commitment to Him and surrender your own will today.
We are going to finish in a song today by Clay Crosse
As this song plays, commit to and surrender to God’s will and make a specific commitment to what it is the Lord has been speaking to you about.
Play song – “I surrender all”
