Commitment & Changes

The word commit means so many different things depending on the context it is used in. Some commit to marriage by getting engaged, companies commit to quality and some people commit bad things.

One such meaning is to entrust your ways, matters in life, thoughts and actions to God. If you give over your ways to God, He will undertake to ensure that what you had committed to Him is kept safe and carried out by Him on your behalf. Then on the other hand, God has committed the gospel to us to carry out the task of spreading it all over the world. This requires commitment. I am yet to see an uncommitted person succeed in life. Half heartedness in what you do for the Kingdom of God or in life never achieves anything and is easily brought down by the enemy.

Changes in one's circumstances often have a way of breaking commitment. Many, who commit to doing things after promising to do them often fail to complete the task because of changes that affect them Matt 21.28:33. The opponents toward Godly commitment are the commitments toward family, job and self. To understand priority in commitment God leads us to the passage in Matt 6.33 which says; "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things shall be added to you". There seems to be in God's mind that all other commitments should not have precedence over His kingdom & righteousness.

This is disconcerting to most because the pressures of life and family seem to bring about constant change which can be quite difficult to balance when it comes to commitment to God. When this happens, priorities change and the first person to suffer is God and then His kingdom. This causes blessings to be stemmed, blocked, squeezed and in a lot of cases lost. God told Israel to choose between blessings and curses. They lost when they chose curses which came from disobeying God's commands and were blessed when they chose to follow them.

What I have discovered is; commitment is a matter of choosing correctly because it is serious business with God. When He committed the talents (money) to His servants, He demanded a return. When He did not get it, He was very upset with the one who did not bring profit for Him. When God commits blessings to us He expects a return from it. Blessings are not given only for us to enjoy but to be a blessing to others. So when we commit to doing something for God in the Church or for others with our talents, we should prioritise our lives to keep commitments. This

way we can be good examples of Christ who was committed to the cross. Had He decided to do something else or even deviate slightly from His commitment, we would not have been saved.

Keeping promises, punctuality, communication, coming to Church regularly, giving of tithes and offerings, performing ministerial and Godly duties, praying, reading the Bible and such like are all commitments. Changes in daily circumstances should not affect our commitment to God. God is able to do more than you can hope to ask Him....Eph 3.20. The question is; do we ask Him? Fulfilling your role as wife, husband, mother, father, worker, friend and citizen need not be affected if you put God first. Many have fallen to the wayside while others suffer tension, sickness and unnecessary losses in life because they have re-ordered their priorities to suit themselves. They even do this on a daily basis. That is why, wives often complain about husbands never being home on time from work. Making commitments and not carrying them out or allowing pressure to change their priority is not a good way to live life as it works against us and not for us.

It never ceases to amaze me as to hear how many people I have counselled openly confess that when they have forgotten to prioritise God in their daily routine, they have suffered. It is not only remembering God in your daily routine but giving Him the first place and time in your life. In Fiji, I was blessed to see fellow Christians who were farmers get up early and pray and seek God. Then, they prepare themselves for the day ahead by welcoming the Holy Spirit before picking up their tools and acknowledging their need of His help for the day.

When they have finished work in the evening, they thank the Holy Spirit for the day and then put down their tools. They come home after that and enjoy their families. Then they eat together and pray together before going to bed. They always seem to be happy and their families are blessed even though they do not have much by our standards. They seem content with what they have. These are Christians I am writing about.

I believe we need to come to a place of commitment with God that shows God we are serious. God must come first, family next and then ministry. That does not mean we compromise our time with Church, praying together or ministry together. It also means we are committed to where we attend Church and be responsible for our part in the life of that Church. The Church needs your attendance and participation in its activities and fellowship.

Commitment shapes your character through the trials of your faith and blesses you to prosper

With love 

Pastor Noble

May 2014