pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: commitment


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Faithful

Reading: 2nd Kings 2: 1-7

Verse Four: “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho”… “I will not leave you”.

Elijah is known as the greatest Old Testament prophet according to most Biblical scholars. His tenure as prophet is full of great stories that demonstrate his obedience and faithfulness to God. Elisha is his prophet-in-training. Elisha will succeed Elijah as the next “prophet of God” in Israel. As we begin 2nd Kings 2, we hear that the time is now: “when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven…”. Elijah will not die a normal death. Instead he will be taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire. For his part, Elisha has been a few servant to Elijah and loves him dearly. He wants to be with him right to the end.

What unfolds over the course of our passage is sort of like a game of cat and mouse. Elijah says, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho”. Over and over Elisha’s response is, “I will not leave you”. Elijah wants to leave Elisha behind, maybe to spare him actually seeing Elijah go. Elisha keeps repeating his line, showing the deep dedication he has to Elijah. “Just one more moment..” is what Elisha is saying. At each juncture the prophets of that place remind Elisha that God is going to take Elijah today. And each time his response is the same: “Yes, I know. But do not speak of it”. Elisha is saying, I know already! You don’t need to remind me of it!

Elisha is as dedicated and faithful as Elijah. He will not leave the one he loves and serves. We have to admire Elisha’s level of commitment. It is one we would do well to emulate. As we reflect on this today, we first must ask ourselves: how could my life better reflect my love and dedication and commitment to Jesus? Secondly, we must ask: how could I be as faithful and dedicated to Jesus?


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Sharing the Good News

Reading: 1st Corinthians 9: 16-23

Verse 22: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”.

Paul had a very strong commitment to the gospel. He felt an amazing drive to share the good news of Jesus Christ with as many as he could. In today’s passage we get a glimpse of his commitment and drive. Paul opens by sharing why he preached the gospel. He is “compelled” to preach because he was personally chosen by Jesus. Paul even says, “work to me if I do not preach”. He has been entrusted with this wonderful gift and he almost cannot comprehend what it would be like to not preach Jesus. He even sees his reward for following his call to preach as the opportunity to continue to preach. In Paul preaching the gospel we find a man doing a “job” that he absolutely loves.

Paul transitions in verse nineteen to the “how” he preaches the gospel. He opens by saying that he became a “slave to everyone”. In a time when a slave was totally bound to ones owner, this was a big statement. But this is how Paul saw himself and his commitment to share the gospel. In the same way that Jesus met people right where they were at to minister to them, so too does Paul. To the Jew, he preached like a Jew. To the gentile, he preached like a gentile. To those who are weak, he became weak. Paul used words and illustrations that were familiar to whatever person or audience he was preaching to so that they could better connect to his message. In the same way, Jesus often used parables centered around sheep, fishing, and farming because they were the primary economic activities of Israel.

Paul draws to a close with this statement: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”. Paul is willing to do anything for the chance to share the gospel. You and I might not be the evangelist that Paul was, but each of us has been gifted by God with experiences that we can share and use to help bring others to Jesus Christ. How have you been uniquely gifted to share the good news? Paul concludes our passage today with these words: “I do all the this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in it’s blessings”. We too will be blessed when we share the good news of Jesus Christ. May we each find opportunities today to bring Jesus to another.


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The Call

Reading: Mark 1: 19-20

Verse 20: “Without delay He called them, and they left… and followed Him”.

I can remember times as a kid when I was out in the yard playing and a friend would ride up on his bike and tell me he was going someplace. I’d hop on my bike and off we’d go. Later in life I’d be sitting in my dorm room studying and some friends would be heading off to play soccer or basketball and I’d jump up and go with them. We’ve all had experiences where we have left what we were doing to go and do something else.

In today’s passage we have James and John doing a similar thing. As they sit in the boats working on the nets Jesus happens by and invites them to come along. In that culture the invitation to follow another would have meant more than my riding off on my bike. All rabbis had followers, so James and John would have understood that this call was a great commitment. It also meant that Jesus saw something in them that merited a call to follow. Usually a rabbi’s call followed years of competitive schooling and evidence of some solid gifts and talents. The most respected rabbis always got the best students as followers.

So here sits a couple of fishermen. For a spiritual call they do not appear to have any special gifts or talents. James and John were out of rabbi school long ago. Yet Jesus comes to them and invites them to become one of His followers. What was it about them that led Jesus to call them? By profession they are hard workers and ply their craft in all kinds of conditions. Fishing is a hard way of life and if they have hired hands they appear to be successful at their jobs. Commitment, hard work, the ability to persevere – sounds like disciple material.

We were all somewhere when Jesus met us where we were at and called us to follow Him. What we left behind was not everything, but it was our old self and our life of sin. We went through a transformation after we responded to the call. As we have journeyed with Jesus we have had experiences that allow us to help others hear Jesus’ call and to answer the call of Jesus on their lives. Like the Master, may we too meet people where they are as we seek to make disciples for the transformation of the world.


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Courage

Reading: John 1: 43-51

Verse 49: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel”.

Jesus finds Philip and simply says, “Follow me” and Philip does.  He hears these simple words and is all in.  Philip invites his friend to do the same, but Nathanael is a little more reluctant.  It is not until he begins to interact with Jesus that he comes to follow Jesus.  After Jesus offers a little proof of who He is, Nathanael declares, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel”.  Philip and Nathanael are two good disciple prototypes.

Some believers are like Philip.  There is a sense of the call to follow Jesus.  For many like Philip, the call comes through our upbringing.  We were raised in the church and initially had the faith of our parents or grandparents.  But then one day we sensed a call to a personal faith as Jesus said to us, “Follow me”.  Like Philip, at that point we responded to a call to go deeper, to make our faith a personal and intimate faith.

Other believers come to faith like Nathanael.  Jesus does something in their life that has a sudden impact or jars them a bit.  In a moment they realize just who Jesus is and they feel compelled to give their lives to Jesus.  In this, the decision point is much the same for both prototypes.  It is a realization that Jesus knows us and is calling us into a personal relationship with Him.

The decision to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus is just the beginning.  From there on out it takes commitment and obedience to walk daily with Christ.  We invest our time and energy to get to know Jesus more and more.  As we do so, we grow to be more and more like Jesus.  Eventually others begin to see Jesus in us.  When they do, often they begin to seek Him out too.  When they do, may we have the courage to say to them, “Come and see” as they begin their own journey of faith.  O Lord, grant us the courage today and every day to be a witness to Jesus Christ.  Amen.


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Focus

Reading: Luke 1: 26-38

Verse 33: “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end”.

God intercedes in Mary’s life in a powerful way.  Around the same time He is interceding in Elizabeth’s and Joseph’s life as well.  Soon enough God will intercede in some shepherds’ lives as well.  In all of these intercessions we see that “nothing is impossible with God”.  While many Christians will acknowledge that this remains true today, I think many of us acknowledge it in our minds but do not truly believe this in our hearts.  I suppose if an angel or host of angels personally visited us, it would help with our belief.  In a similar manner, if a “miraculous” event happened to us, our faith would increase.

The reality, though, is that for most of us, faith is a one-on-one personal connection with God.  Just like all of our relationships, our relationship with God requires investment, commitment, and dedication.  All of these are generally spelled T-I-M-E.  For most of us, we like to say that time is in short supply.  Yet each day we all spend at least an hour on our phones or computer or tablets and we all can invest at least a couple of hours into the television.  So, in reality, when we are honest, it is not time that is in short supply.

The Christmas season is no doubt busier than most times of the year.  There will also be other non-religious holiday times of the year when we will be busier than normal.  It is part of life.  Yet even in the busiest of times, God wants to remain a focus of our daily lives.  One could even argue that we need God more when life is busiest.  For almost all people, we meet our need for God by carving out time each day to be with God.  It is in this half hour or hour that we deeply and meaningfully develop our relationship with God and therefore our faith in God.  What the angel said to Mary remains true today: “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end”.  Our question is this: will we daily give time to God or will we get to that tomorrow or sometime next week?  Is that my cell phone buzzing? 🙂


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Lord

Reading: Matthew 22: 41-46

Verse 42: What do you think about the Christ?  Whose son is he?

Questions about who Jesus is were a hot topic in Jesus’ day, especially amongst the religious leaders.  For a group who leads a people who have been looking for a Messiah for generations, they sure are pretty reluctant to see Jesus as the Messiah.  There were two main barriers that kept them from recognizing Jesus as the Messiah.  First, He did not match their expectations.  They were looking for a king like David, one who would defeat the Romans and re-establish Israel’s greatness.  Second, the idea of a Messiah coming was great in theory but hard to take in practice.  They would not be in control.  They would be less.  They liked being in power.

The religious leaders ask Jesus, “What do you think about the Christ?  Whose son is he”?  Jesus’ response is not directly about himself but it does silence the Pharisees.  They believe the Messiah will come through David.  But Jesus quotes from Psalm 110, showing how David calls the Messiah “Lord”, proving it cannot be David’s son.  They dared not ask Him any more questions and began to look for a way to kill Jesus.

Today people continue to ask who Jesus is.  Some are looking for a Jesus who will save them or who will bring freedom or relief from their current life.  But the radical change from the inside out is tough to take.  They struggle with giving up that secret sin or two and can’t quite call Jesus “Lord”.  Others are like the Pharisees.  They can see Jesus’ power, but can’t quite bow to Jesus as the new Lord of their lives.  They like calling the shots, being in control, having the power.  Jesus requires us to become 3rd at best.  We must be willing to place Jesus on the throne of our heart and then to love others more than ourselves.  Jesus demands all of us.  We cannot keep a few hidden parts or compartmentalize Jesus into just some parts of our lives.  It is a total commitment.  But it is also a process, a journey.  Daily we must ask: what more can I give?  What must I surrender to become less as Jesus becomes more?


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Here I Am

Reading: Exodus 3: 1-6

Verse Five: Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

Moses’ life has settled into a simple daily rhythm.  Life consists of eat, sleep, and take care of the sheep.  For Moses, the wilderness is a welcome refuge.  He grew up safe and protected and in need of nothing as the son of the daughter of Pharaoh.  Then he found out about his heritage, defended a fellow Israelite, and ended up fleeing Egypt in fear for his life.  Jethro had taken him in and life was slow and quiet and peaceful, just as Moses wanted it.

Moses is not alone in his preference for the simpler, more relaxed lifestyle.  Many people choose to do not something because it is just easier.  There is more ease and less commitment to sit on the couch after supper instead of going for the walk.  It is easier to sleep in and watch cartoons than it is to get the kids up and ready for church.  It is easier to ignore the problem when a child has stolen something than it is to knock on the door and engage your neighbor in the difficult conversation.  It is easier to change the channel than it is to watch the news footage and to feel the urge to send some money.  This list can go on and on, can’t it?

Moses encounters the God that he has largely been absent from in the burning bush.  Moses is drawn to this strange site.  Once there at the bush, God has his attention and He calls Moses’ name.  Moses senses who he hears and responds, “Here I am”.  He accepts God’s call to engage again.  God goes on to instruct Moses, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground”.  It is a gentle reminder that to be in the presence of God is to be in a holy place.  When Moses realizes just where he is at and just who he is with, fear overtakes him and he hides his face.

At times we too can wander into the presence of God.  Life is just rolling along as we tend our sheep (or sit on the couch or snooze or turn away…) and suddenly God intercedes in our lives.  An injustice or a tragedy or something else triggers compassion or righteous anger or empathy and we are called by God to engage, to get involved, to make a difference.  The unjust or unfair situation is our ‘burning bush’.  Then we too must decide.  As God calls “John” or “Susan” or “Henry” or “Jen” or …, do we too say, “Here I am”?  May it be so.


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The Joy of My Heart

Reading: Psalm 119: 105-112

Verse 105: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

The psalmist opens this section of the longest chapter in the Bible with these familiar words.  As one reads, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”, one can’t help but have the tune come to mind.  The truth that the psalmist writes remains as true today as it was the day he wrote it.  The depth of commitment we hear in the words of our passage is still the depth of commitment that God continues to look for today in each of us who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our life.

The opening line speaks of God’s Word guiding us through life.  A popular acronym for Bible is “basic instructions before leaving earth”.  Spending time daily in the Word continues to be essential to faithful discipleship.  It is so important to spend time each day with our Bibles, meditating on God’s ways and learning more about what it means to follow Jesus.

The psalmist does not tout a blessed and perfect life once he made the choice to make his oath to follow God’s ‘righteous law’.  Instead he admits that his life continues to have suffering and the wicked continue to tempt him.  We too must acknowledge that life is not instantly a bed of roses once we choose to enter a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Life will still have it’s troubles.  There will still be times of pain and anguish and hardship.  But we do not face these alone.  Jesus walks with us through the troubles and trials, bringing us peace and comfort and strength.

Our passage today ends with “your statutes… are the joy of my heart”.  We find the same joy when we choose to allow Jesus’ ways to be our rule for life.  The Law of the Old Testament and the psalmist has been renewed and refreshed by Jesus and the new commandments.  We too must match the psalmist’s commitment to his faith – to live out each and every day as a follower of Jesus Christ – bringing honor and glory to God in all we do and say.  May it be so!


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Worthy

Reading: Matthew 10: 24-39

Verse 38: Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Today’s passage is tough.  Jesus’ words confront and challenge and shake us.  Or so they should.  This is not the warm, fuzzy, lovey-dovey Jesus talking here.  This is the Jesus that makes us squirm in our chairs as we read and contemplate this passage.

Jesus begins by encouraging us to be like him – “the student is like his teacher”.  He encourages us not to fear “them” but instead to speak the good news in the bright daylight and to proclaim it from the rooftops.  Jesus advises us not to fear men but to fear the one who holds our soul.  He clarifies this by telling us that if we acknowledge Him before men, He will acknowledge us before God in heaven.  He holds our souls.

Just as with those who heard Jesus speak these words, our choice is the same: Jesus or “them”.  He was probably referring to the religious authorities and the Roman occupiers at that time.  Today, our “them” can be similar but is more complex.  Of particular concern would be our choices of popularity, power, and position over the narrow way of Jesus.  It would be our pursuit of wealth and possessions instead of chasing our relationship with Him.  We must daily ask who we place as Lord of our lives.

Jesus continues to bring it, telling us that He did not come “to bring peace, but a sword”.  Nothing warm and fuzzy here.  In case they (or we) were thinking a little repentance and pruning to cut away the sin in their (our) lives, He clarifies.  Jesus says we must love Him more than mother or father, sister or brother, …  We must love Jesus above and over all else.  It is hard.  It is challenging.  It is a full-time commitment.  Jesus defines it this way: “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me”.  It is a daily choice.  Am I worthy?


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Because He Loves

Reading: Psalm 91: 14-16

“Because he loves me…” opens our reading today.  It goes on to say that because we love God, God will rescue, protect, answer, be with, deliver, honor, give long life, and show us salvation.  Because we love God.  Thankfully, these things God blesses us with because we love God is based not just on our love for God.  More importantly, it is based on God’s love for us.  Even though our love is at times fickle and wavering, God still desires a loving relationship with each of us.  There is investment and commitment on both sides.

From God’s side, the love is as steady as the day is long.  God’s love for us never changes.  As the character who portrays God in one of my favorite books says, “I’m especially fond of that one”.  It was said about everyone.  This is one of the most amazing things about God’s love – it is unlimited in that it is for all people, not just for those who love God.  And God’s love is constant.  There is nothing we can do or say to earn more of God’s love.  There is nothing we can do or say to drive away or lessen God’s love either.

But our love ebbs and flows.  Our commitment to the relationship is sometimes strong, sometimes weak.  As people prone to sin, we have moments, days, and even seasons when we slip, drift away, act like we do not love God.  At times we probably make God question our love and commitment.  We are human.

Yet God remains faithful, true, loving.  God remains the same always.  God patiently waited for us to realize our poor choices, to repent and return to our loving relationship.  There are no “Where ya been?” questions.  There is simply, “Welcome back”.  Welcome back to where we belong.  Welcome back.  Thanks be to God for this incredible love.