Good day dear friends. Happy Fourth of July to everyone!
We started a new sermon series yesterday called "The Marks of A Disciple" with "Commitment" being the first of those marks. Our passages were from Luke 9 and Luke 14. We focused mostly on Luke 9:57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
With thanks to Bill Nicolas and Glen Rydl, we had two antique plows for both settings of our three services. Bill's plow lacks the wooden handles, but folks at 8:30 got the idea including a woman who shared that her daddy had been a farmer and remembered using such a plow with words that could not be shared in the church! At 10:30, Glen's plow was very effective and the service ended right on time so I was able to have that plow shared with the 11 o'clock service as well.
Participants at all three worship services (with our apologies to the folks in the balcony at 11!) received the first of ten gifts that will help us during this sermon series. The "line of no return" was given out and next week we'll add to it.
Once a person makes a commitment to God there should be no turning back, no going back, no thinking of what could have been. The Christian journey is a straight ahead journey forward!
Here is our study guide for today: Monday: Read the passages from Sunday again. Read now the story of King David and his friend Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18:1-30. What was the level of commitment involved in this friendship? Jonathan stood to gain the throne of Israel yet it was given to his best friend instead. How would that have made you feel?
Here are the first verses of that passage:
18:1 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
This story is a most unusual one. The king of Israel was King Saul. His hope was that his firstborn son, Jonathan should become king. If you know the story you know that was not to be. Jonathan was also aware of that, yet in spite of that and his father's hatred for the boy David, who was anointed to be the next king, Jonathan committed to love and serve David. That was a full-blown commitment! Jonathan was risking loss of his relationship with his dad and possibly even loss of his life for this friendship with David. What a commitment.
Even today many parents would not want to see someone else's child step in to claim what should legally/logically be your child's. Many would go to many lengths to ensure that one's child would get what was his/her's. And can you imagine the parent's reaction to finding out that the child is now best friends with the child who is to get that which should be yours?
In our walk as a disciple we keep in mind the importance of staying committed to God. It's never easy, but it is the start of a journey that pays great benefits and blessings if we keep moving ahead, never looking back to what could have been or what we may be losing. The plow was the perfect prop for we could see that only one who set his hand and head to the work being done for the glory of God, gets 'er done! The one who thinks, "I could be doing this or that if I hadn't committed to doing this for the church," usually gets little if anything done.
PRAYER: God of the full journey, let us set our eyes and hearts on You. Let us journey ever forward, ever committed to doing that which has been shared with us as our duty and joy. Make us mindful we should not look behind but ahead to what will be. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great, blessed, and safe fourth!
e.v.
