How Committed are You to God ?
Most all religious people claim to be committed to God. But what does it really mean to be “committed” to God? We have numerous examples in God’s Word that show true commitment. In Joshua 1:7 we read where God told Joshua what it takes to be committed. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. When God told him this, He also told him the initial benefit for so doing. Upon studying the entirety of this book, we find near the end that the commitment of Joshua positively affected the nation of Israel. This is found in Joshua 24:31. And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. But, as we study the O. T. and look at the nation of Israel after this time, we must ask: “What happened to their commitment to God?”
The answer to the question was the same then as it is now, and it always will be. God has always provided for His people – If His people will accept His instruction, then do what God says to do. This was applicable under the Old Testament Law to Israel and also applies today under the New Testament Law of Christ, written to Christians. In Hosea 4:6 we read of the condition of most of Israel and the reason they had fallen into such a state. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. When these folks rejected God’s Word they rejected Him and also they stopped teaching God’s Law to their children. In this way the children knew not God and He “forgot” them because they refused Him. They weren’t committed to God. Christians cannot be uncommitted to God and expect to please Him.
In Joshua 24:14-15, after God had done as promised and delivered Israel to the Land of Promise, Joshua charged the people to be faithful to God. He also stated the commitment he had to God. But, he also told them that each individual had to decide if they too were going to be committed to God. Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. We know that Israel immediately made claim that they would always be faithful. Most do when challenged in this way.
But, what is the proof of such claims? As the saying goes: “The proof is in the pudding”. Originally this was stated: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating” and it means that the end product will show the true nature of a thing. James 2:18 is perfectly clear about how one’s faith is demonstrated. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. The same thing applies to one’s “commitment to God”. One would not be out of line to say to another: “Show me your commitment to God without your works, and I will show you my commitment to God by my works.” Can your commitment to God be shown by your works? Does an hour or so on Sunday constitute works for the Lord? It doesn’t even qualify as “reasonable service”. Remember Luke 17:10 as Jesus spoke to His disciples? So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Of course, these “works” with which one could show their commitment to God, have to be in accordance to the Word of God. These “works” would also include the teaching of the Word of God as well as living them. In Psalms 119:10 we read of the degree of commitment the psalmist had toward God and His Word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. As we read Psalm 101:6 we find the one who does “not wander” from the commandments of God are not only committed, but also are faithful. The “committed” one will also “dwell” with God. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
One cannot acceptably serve God without being committed to Him. The idea of commitment is conveyed in the word “walketh” in the above verse. The “eth” on this word implies an ongoing and continuous walking in a perfect way. We find the same suffix, “eth” twice in James 1:25. When these verses are taken together, one must realize that to be “committed” to God, one must “look” into and “walk” continually in the perfect law of liberty. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. This verse also indicates that commitment is not just hearing, but doing the work. Just like Israel, the O.T. people of God, we today, as God’s people – Christians – cannot expect to receive what God has promised in the Law He wrote to the church except we be committed to Him and His Word.
How committed are we to God? Our soul’s eternal destination requires us to be totally committed to Him and His Word.
Dennis S – Mooresville church of Christ
