Commitment

This Sunday was another amazing sermon at church. Our pastor is doing a Lenten sermon series on "Searching for What's Missing" and this week he focused on Mark 8 beginning with verse 27 where Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." Jesus begins to tell his disciples in verse 31 about the fact that he must suffer many things, be rejected, die and rise again. As our pastor put it, Peter gets pretty upset with Jesus at this point and as the verse says, begins to "rebuke" him. Jesus at this point rebukes Peter and says, "Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." At this point at verse 34 Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." Our pastor pointed out that there is a difference in liking Jesus' message and liking what he stands for and believes in and actually living as Jesus does. That was powerful to me. In the days following church I've even read another article on line where many Christians have taken to calling themselves "followers of Christ" rather than Christians because they feel there are too many people that call themselves Christians that don't actually follow Christ. I think too often people just fall into the lull of going to church every Sunday and not actually living life with a Christ-centered attitude.

Our pastor asked, "How often does my going to God involve me wanting something?" WOW! I was convicted right there on the spot. That is so true! How many times do we actually stop on a daily basis to just thank God for our blessings? Or just to talk to him in conversation? One of my friends has told me that her entire day is just a conversation with God. I would love to be able to just be in constant prayer to God all day long, but I know that I tend to get busy and start thinking of other things and the next thing I know, I haven't prayed at all! And I am completely guilty of only praying to God when I need something. As our pastor said, too many people treat God like a Coke machine. They put their money in the top and are expecting something to come out at the bottom. If God removed all of my blessings, would I still seek Him with all of my heart? SUCH a good question! I was reading on another friend's blog the other day about their discipleship material they are reading and she was currently reading the part about miseries and how we all suffer miseries at one point or another in our lives. Then: The degree and kind of misery caused by moral and natural evil varies in each individual's experience. If you are healthy, live in a nice house in a safe neighborhood, have a good job, insurance and enjoy healthy fulfilling relationships, you will experience the miseries of life less acutely than most. Thank God for His kindness to you." Do we do that? Do we do it enough? I know that I don't. I know I don't thank Him often enough for His kindness to me.

Our pastor said there are 3 levels of commitment to God. 1) I'm not willing to put you first. 2) I'll put you first if... (lying to yourself, still wanting to keep control). 3) I'll put you first regardless. I am definitely striving harder now to put God first in my life regardless. I want to work to be in constant prayer/conversation with God and thank Him for His kindness and blessings to me. We have such an awesome and mighty God and I know that I would definitely be in sad shape without Him in my life!!

It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. - John 4:23-24