THE LEVELS OF COMMITMENT
TEXT: PROVERBS 3:3-4
OPENING THOUGHT: Think about this. There are you a man we will call ¡§Joe¡¨ and a woman we will call ¡§Sue¡¨. Each of you has applied for a job at a very sucessful company. This company offers many opportunities of advancement. The company offers each of you an entry-level position. You will receive an hourly wage of $8.50, with the top pay potential being $28.20.
You come in on your first day and show that you can do the job. That¡¦s just what you do the job that they ask you to do. You show up every morning on time. You never miss work. You have a good attitude.
Joe starts his new job with a great deal of zeal! He tries to out work everyone. He tries to impress his boss. But after a while he begins to burn out. He begins to call in sick every other Monday. Then he begins to be late for work every other day. After a while he finds him self not happy with what he is doing. Joe will not quit his job, he does something worse, and he joins the other people in the company that complains all of the time about the job.
Now, we have Sue! She is not at work ¡§on time¡¨ she is at work fifteen minutes early every day. She does more than what is asked of her and she never takes credit for her on a job well done; she shares the credit with the rest of the team she works with.
Which one of these people will go no where in the company?
Which one of these people will advance to the top paid position?
Which one of these people will probably advance above the top pay?
In our text it tells us to bind love and faithfulness around our neck.
Tonight we are going to focus on the latter word of that thought.
Faithfulness and commitment are synomonous. This evening we will look at three levels of commitment and seek which level wants each of us to be ¡§commited¡¨ to.
Level one is:
I.
1. Judas, along with eleven other men, was chosen by Jesus to be the man who would lead to what is now the Church of Jesus.
2. When Jesus picked him it was not a mistake, it was the choice of God.
3. Judas was at the ¡§entry¡¨ level position just as the other eleven was.
4. There is an old saying that states, ¡§the mind is a terrible thing to waste¡¨.
5. This is true, because Jesus saw pointial in this man. But what Judas would do is heart breaking.
6. At first Judas was just as commited as the rest of the men.
7. He met where Jesus said meet.
8. He did the things that Jesus told him to do.
9. But then something began to happen. His zeal bean to fizzle.
10. The reason why this was happening to him was because of his commitment level.
11. He was at a level we must all cross but a level; we must all get past.
12. Judas was at level one of his commitments with Christ, ¡§the mind commitment¡¨ level.
13. Because of this level we see four atributes that began to manifest in this chosen man of Jesus.
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
14. A commitment of the mind is good.
15. A commitment of zeal is good.
16. But the mind level must be met up with the next level.
The second level is:
II.
1. The heart is what leads us. It is what convicts us, because it is what the Holy Spirit lives in.
2. When committing to something we must not only do it with our mind, but with our heart!
3. Peter was also among the chosen and commissioned just as Judas was.
4. The major difference was Peter. Not only used his zeal in his mind he used it in his heart.
5. He genually loved Jesus and always wanted to please Him.
6. The Scriptures record his life as following:
„h He was the reed changed to a rock
„h Naturally impulsive ¡V Matt. 14:28
„h Tenderhearted and affectionate ¡V Matt. 26:75
„h Full of strange contradictions and at times presumptuous ¡V Jn. 13:8
„h Other times timid and cowardly ¡V Matt. 26:69-72
„h Self-sacrificing ¡V Mk.1:18
„h Yet inclined to be self-seeking ¡V Matt. 19:27
„h Gifted with spiritual insight ¡V Jn. 6:68
„h Yet slow to apprehend the deeper truths ¡V Matt. 15:15-16
„h Made two great confessions of Jesus Christ ¡V Mt. 16:16 & Jn. 6:69
„h And also the most cowardly denial ¡V Mk. 14:67-71
7. The commitment level was good that Peter had been good, it just was not as deep as God wanted it to be.
8. The mind commitment is good it is not just as aggressive and deep as the heart level.
9. The heart level is good it is not just as deep and aggressive and deep as the next level.
III.
1. Paul was a man of the mind when he was Saul.
2. He was a man of the man of the mind and heart when he was in the middle of his ministry.
3. At the end of his ministry we see the picture of a man that was a man commited with his whole mind, his whole heart and his whole soul.
4. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 describes the three levels of commitment that Paul had.
5. ¡V The mind commitment is
- The heart commitment is
- The soul commitment is the
CLOSING THOUGHT: Don¡¦t fall in the trap of the commitment of the mind level only because you will burn out fast. Don¡¦t fall prey to the heart level only because you will only go so far and will ride a ¡§spiritual rollercoaster¡¨. Commit your self totally by the power of the Holy Spirit mind, body and soul.
Evaluate your self this evening and allow the Holy Spirit to show you where you are and allow Him to change you.
