Building a Life of Commitment
2 Chronicles 16:9
Scripture reading (9)
"9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect (fully committed) toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars..."
2 Chr. 16:9
The advise was everywhere this week. You couldn't ignore it. You could read it in the newspaper, hear it on the radio, watch on the television. Everybody was saying the same thing all week: ignore the daily ups and downs and commit to the long term. They were talking about the stock market, but they could have been talking about life. History shows that long term commitments pay off.
The sad thing is that today in our society as technology is speeding up the pace of change people are more and more reluctant to make long term commitments. We don't want to be committed to anything. We don't want to commit to a long term job. We don't want to commit to a long term marriage. We don't want to commit to long term investments. We don't want to commit to a church. We don't want to commit to anything. In fact, if there is any operational attitude today it's "I want to keep my options open. I don't want to be tied down. I don't want to commit to anything because life is a buffet and I don't want to get to the end and say, `Oh, I filled my plate up with the wrong stuff!' Some of you listening to this message are little more than spectators because you will not commit to faithful church attendance, giving consistently, Christian service or anything else. I suspect that some have made up their minds that they are not going to commit themselves to on a "Together We Build" stewardship campaign covenant card because of the challenge of a long term commitment even though we've made it plain that they can revise it, cancel it and no one will ever contact them!
That's tragic because the fact is you can't live without making commitments. You can't buy a house without making a 10, 15 or 30 year commitment. You can't get married without making a commitment get a license, a ring, blood tests, place to live, etc. You can't even get a driver's license without making some kind of commitment like a driver's education course. Nothing great ever happens without making commitments. If we go through life without making any commitments we just drift without any purpose.
So today I want us to look at "Building a Life of Commitment." I want us to look at what the Bible says about the power of commitment, the price of commitment, the pitfalls of commitment and the payoff for commitment. First, let's consider;
I. THE POWER OF COMMITMENT
What does the Bible say about the power of commitment? Although you will not find this word in the Scriptures per se, the Bible does have a lot to say about the principles behind this subject and it says that nothing affects your life more than the commitments that you choose to make. In fact, our commitments have three profound affects on our lives;
A. My commitments show my values
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon
Mt. 6:24
They show what I really think is important. What I really value, what I really love. There is no such thing as love without commitment. Single adult, if someone ever tells you, "I love you" and they're not willing to commit to you, they don't love you. There is no love without commitment. The essence of love is a commitment of oneself to that person, to meeting the needs of that person. That's what love is all about. You can't love without making commitments.
I may say something is important to me, but the way I commit my time and my money shows what is really important. I may say, for instance, that my family is important to me. But if I commit all my time to my work, and none of my time is committed to my family, it shows what's really important. If I say my health is important to me, but I don't commit any of my time to taking care of myself, then it means that my health is not really important to me.
The uncommitted life really means nothing is important to me. That's what it means. If you don't make any commitments in life, you're basically saying, "The only thing that's important to me, is me." The uncommitted life in its essence is pure selfishness. It's saying, "I don't consider any one, or any thing, or any cause in life worthy of commitment. I am only committed to me." That's called selfishness.
It is also true that you can't be committed to everything. So we come to the second thing since you have to make choices in life, you can't be committed to everything, you have to choose your commitments. So my commitments not only show my values they...
B. My commitments shape my life
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life
Pr. 4:23
I become whatever I'm committed to. Your life is the sum total of your commitments. If I believe that making money is the most important thing in life, then my life is going to be shaped by that. If I believe that being well liked and being popular is important, then my life is going to be shaped by that. If I think that having a good time is the most important thing in life, then my life will be shaped by that.
If I were able to sit down with you and have a thirty minute conversation and I say, "Tell me your commitments. Tell me what you're committed to right now" I could tell you what you're going to become in life. I could tell you what you are now. I could tell you what you're going to be. I could tell you how you're going to end up if you live to old age. Because once you choose your commitments in life, your character is set. It's set in stone. So you better choose your commitments carefully. And if you've never thought those things through, you may not like how you're going to end up if you haven't looked at those commitments. Commitments not only show my values and shape my life, they....
C. My commitments seal my destiny
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mk. 8:36
The destiny of nations are determined by the commitments that people make. The very fact that we experience freedom here this morning to talk and pray and worship like this is because somebody spilled their blood for that. Our freedom was bought with a price.
On a personal way, the commitments that you make, that I make, they not only determine here and now, they also determine our eternity. We talked about this a lot last week. Life here on earth -- 60, 80, 100 years -- is brief compared to the years you're going to spend in eternity. If you develop a relationship with Christ, you're going to spend eternity with Him and your rewards and responsibilities are going to be based on how you used your life here on earth. That involves commitment.
Jesus said it like this, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?" That's a very important question because every day of your life you're exchanging your life for something. We're all given just a certain number of minutes to live. The average human being will live 25,550 days. Every day when you wake up, you exchange your life for something. Some people exchange their life for tv. Some people exchange their life for trashy novels. Some people exchange their life to do nothing. When you kill time, you're committing suicide because your time is your life. Your time is far more important than your money. You can always get more money but you can't get any more time. You have a certain number of minutes.
Wise people use their time wisely. Wise people plan how they're going to exchange their life. You are going to exchange your life for something. Wise people plan that exchange by making what we call commitments. When you make a commitment you're choosing how you're going to invest your life. You're choosing how you're going to spend your time. You're choosing how you're going to use your resources.
If you don't get anything else, get this: Every choice has a consequence. In life, every choice you make has a consequence. It may seem the most insignificant choice, but in the grand scheme of things they all add up and all involve your time and they all influence eternity. The choices and the commitments I make will show my values, will shape my life and will determine my destiny. It's very important that we learn to make wise commitments.
Of course the most important commitment you're going to make is your commitment to Jesus Christ. But even that has a price tag. Every commitment, regardless of which one you make, has a price tag to it. You have to weigh out the benefits and the pay off compared to the price tag on it.
What are the price tags, what are the costs of following Christ? Jesus is very up front about it. He doesn't beat around the bush. He's not vague. He just lays it out in Luke 14:26 " 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
Jesus is very clear about the cost of following Him, the cost of commitment. He's saying, "I expect to have first place in your life. You have to love Me more than anybody or anything else if you want to be My follower." That's pretty audacious. He says you've got to love Him more than your parents, more than your husband, more than your wife, more than your kids, more than your own life. That's a pretty high cost. No human being would ever say that to you. Jesus Christ demands total and complete loyalty.
The only difference is, He has a right to it. Why? He made you. He created you. He loves you. He has a plan for your life. He died on the cross for you. Nobody else has done that. Nobody else can claim those three things -- that you were made by them, that you were planned for a purpose by them, and that they died for you. Jesus says, "I gave My life for you. I expect your life in return." I think He has a right to it. He says "I demand first place in your life if you're going to be following Me."
Some people imagine their life as a pie and Jesus is a slice of that pie. A career slice, a relationship slice, a sex-life slice, a goals and ambitions and dreams slice, a family slice, and my Jesus slice. There is a name for this that you hear a lot today and it's called compartmentalization. Jesus says, "No thank you. I don't want to be a slice of your life. I don't want to be a part of your life. I want to be number one." Jesus Christ is not an appendage that you just tack on as an after thought. Like a country western TV show where they have a song about cheating and a song about drugs and a song about truck driving and then they say "And now it's time for a little gospel," Like they want to appease the entire crowd. "Let's shack up, let's get stoned, now let's sing "Amazing Grace". Tack it all on there.
If Jesus Christ is not Lord of all in your life, He's not Lord at all in your life. You're kidding yourself. You ought to really question, "Do I really know Christ?" C. S. Lewis said it like this, "If Christianity is untrue then it's unimportant." That's obvious. If the Bible is a lie, if this is all a myth, if it didn't really happen, if Jesus really isn't God and He didn't rise from the dead and all that kind of stuff, what are we doing here this morning. Let's all go home. There's plenty other things to do on Sunday morning. If it's untrue, it's unimportant.
On the other hand, if Christianity is true, then it is of ultimate importance. And it deserves everything you've got. It is of ultimate importance. It's more important than your job, your family, your career, your goals. It's the most important thing -- if it's true. Lewis said, "The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important." It's either all or nothing. It either demands and deserves everything I've got or let's all go home. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important. The phrase "casual Christian" is a contradiction. It's like saying, "I'm semi-pregnant", "I'm half dead". No you're either alive or you're dead and if you're alive you're still alive. You may be sick but you're alive. You're either pregnant or you're not. Jesus Christ is either Lord of your life or He's not Lord of your life. Don't kid yourself.
Jesus says this is the cost. "I want you to seek Me first." How do you do that? We talk a lot about putting God first in your life, how do I put God first in my life? This brings us to.....
II. THE PRICE OF COMMITMENT
" 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
Lk. 14:26
I GIVE CHRIST...
A. The first thoughts of every day.
"3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
Ps. 5:3
I'm not saying, when you get up in the morning the first thing you have to do is sit down, read your Bible and have a quiet time and pray -- although I recommend it. But I'm not saying you have to do that. What I am saying is, before you get out of bed in the morning, you ought to learn that the first thing you think about is talking to God, even before you roll out of bed, "Good morning, Lord" rather than, "Good Lord, it's morning!" Those are the alternatives.
Let me give you a secret to a mood lifter, a mood enhancer. Talk to God before you talk to anybody else each day. Read the Good News before you read the bad news in the paper. It will help you keep everything in focus and realize who's in charge. It's no wonder so many people are stressed out and negative. They get up in the morning to an ALARM clock. Not just music, but ALARM, so they wake up alarmed! The first thing they do is turn on the talk radio and news radio and listen to all the rapes and all the violence and all the people who got murdered and all the international conflict that's going on. Then they go down and fix their breakfast and read the paper about more problems and economy and business and education. Then they turn on the tv and watch thirty minutes of Bad Morning, America hearing about problems. Then on the way to work, they listen to more talk radio, more news, hearing about more traffic jams, more problems, more crime. Then they wonder, "Why do I feel so bad when I get to work?" You're feeding yourself this constant diet. Let your first thoughts each day be of God.
You can do this. Let me give you the secret. The way you do it is, your last thought at night tends to be your first thought in the morning. Have you ever gone to sleep at night with some stupid song stuck in your mind and you wake up the next morning and it's still going on? Why can't I get that out of my head? You can train yourself that when you go to sleep at night, the last person you talk to is Jesus Christ. And with your head laid on the pillow, you say, "Christ Jesus, I know You're with me. I know You're in me. I know You're watching over me. And I want to see You in the morning. Good night, Lord. Help my first thought in the morning be of You."
You can do that. That gives God the first thought of every day.
B. The first day of every week.
"On the first day of the week, the disciples came together..."
Acts 20:7
They worshipped. Why do Christians worship on Sunday? We do it for two reasons.
1. Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. It's called Easter. We celebrate Easter every Sunday.
2. Because it's the first day of the week and we want to give God the first thought of every day and the first day of every week. We call it The Lord's Day.
C. The first ten per cent of every paycheck
"9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase,"
Pr. 3:9
That's called tithing and we've talked about this many times. One of the ways we show that God is first place in our life is give Him the first ten percent right off the top. Not after I've paid all the bills. Why do I do it? In gratitude for the past, to keep my priorities right in the present, and in faith for the future. If you really want to know what's really important to you, if you really want to know what you really love, if you really want to know what you're really committed to, look at your check book. I don't' care what you say is important, the way you spend your money and the way you spend your time shows what is really important. So don't give me some line about what's most important in your life. If God's first in your life, He's going to be first in your time and first in your checkbook.
There are more promises about tithing than anything else in the Bible. We don't have time to go into it today. Two verses you can look up later:
One of them is Deuteronomy 14:23 "The purpose of tithing is to teach us to put God first in every area of our lives." That's the purpose. It's a reminder. Every time I get a paycheck and sit down and write out my tithe and give it back to God, it's saying, "God, You're first." That's the purpose of tithing, to teach me to put God first.
Another verse, 1 Corinthians 16:2 says we ought to give our tithe on the first day of the week. Why? Why not the second day or Thursday or Friday? Because on the first day is when I go to church and tithing is an act of worship.
Tithing is not giving to charity and giving to charity is not tithing. Those are two different things. You ought to give to charity. When Judy and I give to the Red Cross, that's good, but that's not tithing. When Judy and I give to the missions, that's good, but that's not tithing. When Judy and I give to WAC or Masters Men or FFBBC, that's good, but that's not tithing. Tithing is when I give to the Lord as an act of worship at the house of worship on the first day of every week. That's tithing. You and I ought to give beyond our tithe. That's a gift, an offering. Tithing goes to the house of worship, as an act of worship and it's undesignated. Any time I designate an amount, that's not worship. But when I say, "God, here's my offering to You. Use it any way You want to." That's an act of worship.
D. The first consideration in every decision
"5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Pr. 3:5-6
Do you want to be successful? Then you need to memorize that verse and do it. Put God first in every area and He will crown your efforts with success. Do you want your finances to be successful? Put Him first in them. Do you want your business to be successful? Put Him first in it. Do you want your family to be successful? Put Him first in it. It's a no brainer!
III. THE PITFALLS OF COMMITMENT
There are some things that cause us to stumble, to get entrapped, that can ambush us and trip us up. They're hazards. I want to mention two that can weaken or dilute our commitment to Christ. I want to say this because as your pastor, I want you to make it to the finish line. I want you to stand before Jesus Christ one day and have Jesus Christ say, "You made it to the finish line. Good job!" The truth is, five years from today, there are people here that aren't going to be here. Some of you are going to be washed up spiritually five years from today. You will have flamed out. You will not be walking with the Lord. You're not going to be growing in the Lord. You're not even going to be attending church. As a pastor of many, many years I've seen the parade. Why? Why will this happen to some of you? Your commitment was not deep. So when tough times came along your casual convenient Christianity went out the door and so did you. And you're not going to make it. So I need to warn you, as your pastor, of two things that trip us up.
A. We get distracted
"19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."
Mark 4:19
Is there anything evil in this list? No. Is there anything bad in the list? No. Is there anything that's really wicked in that list? No. There's nothing wrong with wealth, success, nice things. What's wrong with it? He's saying, they're not the most important things in life. There's nothing wrong with those things, it's just not what God put you on earth for. He didn't put you on earth for wealth and success and nice things. Those are gimmes, freebies, perks. But that's not really what you're here on earth for.
Don't make that the most important. If success or wealth or nice things become number one in my life, God gets bumped out of first place and that becomes an idol. The Bible says in the Ten Commandments, Don't do it! Don't have idols. Don't let anything take first place in your life except God. Don't let good things get in the way of the best.
B. We get complacent
" 11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rom. 12:11
What happens when we become complacent is we start living off of past commitments and don't make new ones. "In 1921, I made this commitment..." Have you made any more since then? Have you grown any since then? Have you updated your commitment? Or have you just become complacent in that level of commitment? You think some commitment you made ten years ago is enough to keep you going for the rest of your life? No. You need to be continually growing in your commitment, striving, deepening. We become complacent.
A story in the Bible: In the book of Joshua (chapter 7) there's a story that after Moses led the Israeli's out of bondage for 400 years of slavery from Egypt, he leads them through the desert and they wander for forty years. Then Joshua leads them across the Jordan river into the Promised Land. Now the next step is to take over the Promised Land. They find there are enemy people living there. So the first town that they have to take on is Jericho.
At that time, Jericho was the most fortified city in the world. It was considered impenetrable. Now here's a bunch of slaves going to take on this major city. We talked about this in the message on faith, how they marched around the walls, the walls fell down and they had a great victory and it was a hugh miracle. They had this incredible miracle and victory.
A few days later they go on to take over the next city. Only it's a little dinky podunk town called Ai. Ai is kind of the Buttonwillow of Israel. It's a wide spot in the road. And they got complacent. They'd had this big miracle at Jericho. says, "Soon after Jericho's defeat, Joshua sent some of his men up to spy on the city of Ai. Upon their return they told Joshua, `It's a small city. It won't take more than two or three thousand of us to destroy it. There's no point in all of us going up there.'"
Do you hear the cockiness? Here the complacency? "So approximately 3000 soldiers were sent and they were soundly defeated. [They got clobbered.] About 36 Israelis were killed during the attack and many others died while being chased by the men of Ai. The Israeli army was paralyzed with fear at this turn of events and Joshua and the elders of Israel tore up their clothes and lay on the floor crying to God with dust on their heads. Joshua cried out to the Lord, `O God, why have you brought us over the Jordan river if you're going to let the Ammorites kills us? Why weren't we content with what we had? Why didn't we just stay on the other side? O Lord, what am I to do now that Israel has fled from its enemies [This guy is having a mid life crisis!] But the Lord said to Joshua, `Get up off your face.'"
There's a time to pray and there's a time to `Get up off your face!" Sometimes you need to pray about a problem. Sometimes you just need to do something about it. "God said, `Israel has sinned and disobeyed my commandment and has taken loot I said not to be taken. They've not only taken it but they've lied about it and hidden it among their belongings.'"
God had said, "When you take over these cities, you're not to save any of the spoils of war. I don't want you keeping any of their things, their idols, their gods. I want you to wipe it all out." But one guy in the entire nation disobeyed. One guy. And his name was Achan. The Bible says that Achan found three things -- a Babylonian dress for his wife, some shekels of silver worth about $500, and a bar of gold worth about $200. He hid them. But they found him out. That one guy and his son had caused the whole nation to be defeated. That's the power of one individual not being committed. That's the power of one individual keeping an entire group of people from being blessed. They got complacent and they were humiliated.
They said, "We were part of the big miracle last week at Jericho so we'll just sit this one out. We'll just send a few troops up there." I think the warning for those of us in Time To Build three years ago is obvious. Those of us that were here when we did the previous campaign were part of an incredible miracle of God and all kinds of money was given, and lives were changed and people got happy and it was exciting. It's easy to get complacent now and think, "We'll just sit this one out -- the Building For Life. We made our commitment back then. We don't need to be stretched now. We don't need to give now, to pray now. We don't need to have our faith and muscle developed spiritually. We'll cruise through this one." Who do you think is giving us those ideas? God? No, not God.
We need to be aware that Satan wants us to become complacent or we will miss God's blessing and we will be defeated. During the next fourteen days between now and the Building For Life offering, there's going to be a spiritual battle in the mind of every person here. The issue is, How real and how deep is my commitment to Jesus Christ? Will I lay it on the line for Christ? One guy told me, "I don't believe in making a 36-month giving commitment?" I said, "Have you ever bought a car? You believe in commitments as long as it's for selfish purposes."
Those of you who are still giving your commitment for Time To Build, what should you do? I would take whatever you've got left over, combine it with something new and say, "God, this is my new commitment to You." Don't miss God's blessing. Whatever you do, don't become complacent. Be stretched.
When the Israelites went through the Red Sea, was that the last time they were tested? No. They had one test after another. And you're going to be tested the rest of your life too. And a big one is coming up in fourteen days.
Romans 14:12 says 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." We can't live on yesterday's level of commitment. We have to keep developing spiritual muscle.
IV. THE PAYOFF FOR TOTAL COMMITMENT
God promises both a short term payoff and a long term payoff. The short term payoff is in Matthew 6:25, 30. Jesus says this, "25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
The first payoff when I commit my life totally to Christ, I don't have to worry any more. God says, When you give your life totally to Me, I assume responsibility for every need you have from that point forward.
God does not assume responsibility for all your needs if you're half committed, if you're partially committed, if you're uncommitted. God does not owe you anything. He doesn't owe you tomorrow. But, in His grace, when I give my life totally to Him, and I say, "God, I'm all Yours", God says, "That's what I've been waiting for. Now I will take care of all your needs from here on out."
In ancient Rome, there were twelve million slaves and servants. There were more slaves and servants in Rome than there were free people. Many free people voluntarily sold themselves into slavery as servants. Why? Because in Roman law, a master was prescribed under law to take care of all the needs of a servant. So if you sold yourself to a good Master, that master was responsible for all your food, all your clothing, all your medical care, your retirement, your education. Every need that you had, he would take care of. It was like cradle to grave security.
In the same way when we come to God and say, "God, I give You all my life." He says, "All right! You're never going to have to worry again because I'm the master and I'm responsible to take care of all your needs." That's the short term benefit.
The long term benefit in heaven is Matthew 25:23 "23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord!"
Three eternal benefits: Praise -- God says, Good job, well done! Promotion -- He's going to give greater responsibility and Participation -- He says, "Come and share your master's joy!"
What kind of commitment, what kind of life are you going to live? A half committed life, an uncommitted life? The problem I see in most people today is that they are over committed. They make half hearted commitments to twenty different things, rather than total commitment to the one thing that really matters in life, why they were put on this earth. Some of you need to slack off some of your commitments and get rid of some of them so that the most important commitment really does become the most important commitment.
Henry Varley once said, "The world has yet to see what God can do in and through and for the person who is totally committed to Christ."
Look at the very first verse on your outline. "9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect (fully committed) toward him..." God is looking for people to use in this world. God is looking for people to bless in this world. God is looking for people He wants to strengthen in this world and the only qualification? A fully committed heart.
I personally intend to be that kind of person. From the depths of my heart, I want to have a fully committed heart to Jesus Christ. I challenge you to make that your goal too. It is the best and wisest investment of your life. It doesn't take great people to do great things. It just takes committed people. God says give yourselves completely to God every part of you.
