Deliberate Commitment
DELIBERATE COMMITMENT
Oswald Chambers wrote: “Personal contact with Jesus changes everything. Be “foolish” enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him.”
I think too often that is where we get hung up. Life has offered us so much—it’s hard to let go. One minute we think we can—easily relinquish the goods…the next minute there’s a hesitation. The hesitation become like a freight train at full speed down the track, blowing steam and making headway into our neatly stacked blocks of thoughts and ideas of what our lives should look like at 50…and 60…and 70.
These two beautiful girls received their very first brand new dress made by East Side Baptist Church (Vernon, FL), ladies who sew for the world’s children!
But what if at 70, God calls you to step out of your comfort zone and commit more to Him than ever before.
What if God asks you to let go of what you’ve always called “yours”…and give it up.
What if God says, “I have a better plan”, to the list maker at 25?
What? Are you kidding me?
But I made a list. I have all things lined up. I know when I will graduate, have kids, get married… I know where I’ll live, why, I’ve already picked out the fence for the back yard that will enclose the dog I don’t yet have…what do you mean LET GO?!
The Word says, “deliberately commit”.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5
I choose to commit, pledge, entrust all of me to God. For His choosing. I have asked myself, “what will that look like”?
Obedience- with joy.
I am a missionary. I currently serve where I am—and my heart beats for more. I have felt a stirring for quite some time to “commit” all I have to Him…and I do. WE do. My husband is doing the itinerating mostly on his own these last few weeks…but in heart and spirit, I am THERE.
There is nothing that I own that I would not be ready at a moment’s notice to relinquish. As a matter of fact, we just had a huge yard sale…and by next July will be the last of it—unless we have another one BEFORE.
I am certainly not saying you have to do this—just because I feel it…
You alone know what God has in the works for your life—and you likely already know what He will require…or at least part of what He’s already put His holy finger on.
We need to remember that the things we hold dear… are just things…yet they bind us so much that we feel a chokehold kin to a death grip on our lives.
What’s the matter with us? We have allowed “things” to possess us, rather than us possess things.
When Jeff and I were the mission pastors at our church—a position we loved and were called and committed to– We chose to say, “Yes” to God when He spoke into our hearts and lives. It required some decisions that, although they were difficult, they were necessary.
Dreams aren’t fulfilled without putting on your shoes of commitment and taking deliberate steps and action into the road that leads to the realization of those dreams.
A few years ago, after the workday was complete, I sat in my chair and looked back at some pictures of the past steps that have been leading to the fulfillment of our dreams. I see, on the periphery that God has shifted things around in such a way that I see the dream coming into more of a reality than I did 4 years ago.
Our church hosts at least one missionary each month. There is one way to grow your mission department in your church—hear their voice.
It sounds like the voice of our Father. “Go –commit. Feed my sheep. Make disciples. Love them to Me. Build relationships…and build lives while building buildings.”
I love doing what I do. I love following God’s voice and heart. Tears spring hot to my eyes when I think of all the places He has led me and all the words He has spoken into my heart.
Deliberate commitment.
Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Psalm 37:4-6
I am committed to doing MORE. Seeing MORE. Being MORE. Loving HIM MORE. GROWING MORE LIKE HIM. Deliberately.
It won’t happen by accident.
© Angie Knight. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Also published on The Knightly News and StreetTalk Magazine 2016.
Thank you for being His hands and feet, bringing the Good News to the world.
Yes and even though we all can’t go, we all can pray for those who can and we can all serve right where we are. Thank you for being willing to go Angie!
Beautiful post, each commitment we make to HIM has to be deliberate and we must follow thru., Love Mama Doodle