Wooddale Church of Christ

Commitment means being “faithful; steadfast; trustworthy; an agreement; a pledge”. This lesson isn’t about marriage per se. But all of the above definitions apply to biblical principles and precepts. Many people make a “one time commitment” to the Lord that lasts perhaps a few weeks at most. When an individual is baptized into Christ and added to His church (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:47), this individual is in essence making a lifetime commitment to be faithful (Rev. 2:10b). This means he belongs to the Lord and he will serve until he dies!

In Jude 21, we are admonished, “Keep yourselves in the love of the Lord, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” This is written in the Greek Present Active Tense and it means to be committed to the love of the Lord i.e. keep on being committed). Christianity embraces being a “disciple of Christ.” Disciples cannot and must not give up. To do so is to commit spiritual suicide! Make no mistake about this folks!

The Apostle Paul showed his commitment to his Lord. In Phil. 1:21, Paul said, “For me to live is Christ,and to die is gain.” The Hebrew writer said, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.” (Heb. 3:12-14).

The Bible is full of those who started their Christian walk only to falter and fall away. Many people think they can give the Lord their “spare time” if they have it. Others come and worship the Lord whenever the mood hits them! This ought not to be folks. The Lord expects our very best because He gave His very best. (John 3:16).

It never ceases to amaze me and I say this with no disrespect to the deceased, that when reading the obituaries I find that 99 44/100% of the people listed belong to some religious affiliation. You know what I am writing about here. They never shadowed the doorways of any church building, etc after they first committed to Christ. Those who lived like the devil now after death look toward heaven.