Devotionals
Proverbs 16:1-3
1 The preparations of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the LORD weighs the spirits.
3 Commit your works to the LORD,
And your thoughts will be established.
---
Yesterday I was listening to a great gospel song called "Luke Warm," and it got me to thinking about commitment. Here's the chorus from that song:
"You see you can't be saved today
And a sinner tomorrow.
Oh you've got to be one,
One or the other.
You can't be
Luke Warm."
I believe we are a very paradoxical race. We will gladly commit to the thirty-year terms of a home loan, or even commit to working the same 9 to 5 job for decades, but we seem unable to make real spiritual commitments. We marry and divorce with equal abandon, or else we just avoid that commitment and "play it safe" by not getting married at all. We avoid staying in one church for too long because they might start to depend on us to participate. When we see injustice or abuse right before our eyes, we say we "don't want to get involved"--supposedly avoiding complicating our lives. And don't even get me started on the guys who gladly want to have sex with a woman but who dash out the door at the first sign of pregnancy.
Let's face it, as a society, we hate commitment. We prefer our so-called "independence," in whatever form it may take: tenuous family ties, "à la carte" spirituality, self-help books, faceless charity donations, or commitment to our own entertainment over our spiritual and intellectual enrichment. We have the strangest way of dealing with our lives, because on the one hand we often say we want to do things ourselves, and yet on the other hand we gladly will let others do things for us. And then when others ask for our help, our time, our resources, we shy away and make excuses. We are commitment-phobic.
In today's verses from the book of Proverbs, Solomon is trying to get us to commit. Before you run away, stop and listen to what he says.
Solomon starts by pointing out that men make plans but the final answer is always up to the Lord. Jesus puts it another way.
---
Matthew 10:18-20
18 "You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
19 "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
20 "for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."
---
"But wait," you say, "Jesus is talking to His disciples about how they should respond to defend their faith. Solomon was talking about, um, well, something else." Was he?
You see, when we are lukewarm in our faith, when we refuse to commit, we make our own plans for how we will participate in God's kingdom, and we like to think we have the right words to speak and know the right things to do. But when we are really hard-pressed about our faith, where do all our great ideas go? How solid do they stand in the face of adversity and persecution? When we are asked about what we are doing in the Lord's name, will we truly be able to give an answer?
Solomon then tells us the truth about how we approach our walk with God: in our pride, we like to think we are pure and just because we are doing good things, that we are doing nothing wrong. Jesus railed against this mentality over and over, condemning the Pharisees for deluding the people into thinking they would be righteous before God if they just performed all the laws the Pharisees put before them. Ask almost any person who is "spiritual but not religious" about whether they think they are good, and they will gladly tell you they are just fine. Why? "I haven't killed anyone, I don't harm anyone, I haven't stolen anything (not since I swiped my brother's milk money in third grade), I don't commit adultery (even though I'm not married, so it doesn't really apply to me),..." You get the idea. They are so focused on "Thou shalt not" that they forget "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV) ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your might: not just part, not just a little, not just ten percent, not just a few hours--ALL. That, my dear friends, is commitment. And yet we forge ahead, certain that we are pure and holy because we are not hurting others and we occasionally do good works.
I was speaking with a friend last night about this "good works" mentality. The so-called "Protestant work ethic" tells us that if we just work hard enough we will get a reward for all our work. Work thirty years at a steady job, and your house is all paid off. Work forty or fifty years, and then enjoy your retirement. Work hard with a company to make them money, and they will promote you and give you a raise in pay. Seeing that mentality work for us in the real world can lead us into applying it to spiritual matters as well. If we just do enough good works, we'll be fine in the afterlife. If we just do this big thing for the Lord, then it will balance out that bad thing we did last week. If we just say enough prayers or just express enough regret or just spend enough time in church, it will be enough to get us into heaven.
God doesn't deal in "enough."
---
Matthew 19:16-22
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"
17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,'
19 "'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
---
The young man wasn't ready to commit, to truly give his ALL. He was looking for being able to do enough, for finding a way to gain eternal life that DIDN'T require total commitment, that instead allowed him to live just as he had been living. The young man's question "Which ones?" is a sure sign that he is looking for an easy way out, a way for Jesus to help him pare down the commandments and get to just the essentials, the place where he could do just enough.
"But the LORD weighs the spirits."
God doesn't want us to do just enough, He wants us to commit to Him, to give it ALL. God doesn't weigh our good works and bad works on a scale of justice and watch where the needle falls. "For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged." (1 Corinthians 11:31) God doesn't judge the way we do, and so He KNOWS we are not pure, because He weighs our hearts, our spirits. As Solomon also wrote:
---
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man's all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
---
"EVERY secret thing." Ouch! Boy, am I in trouble! How can I avoid hell now? How can I get past these sins I have committed? Well, if I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord, the Son of God who died for my sins, then I know I am saved by HIS work. The perfect and spotless Lamb of God has taken my punishment FOR me, and now He has risen unto new life to bring me eternal life. But how do I lay hold of this new life, how claim this prize of which I am not really deserving?
Commit.
Jesus said to His disciples and to that rich young man, "Follow Me." As in "Follow Me down the dusty roads of Judea to minister to the weak, the sick, the oppressed, the shunned, the whores and lepers and tax collectors and fishermen and foreigners." As in "Follow Me and leave behind wealth and family and friends and home and hearth and comfort and warmth and success and the honor of men." As in "Follow Me and fear God and keep His commandments and live by His law and forgive as He forgives, love as He loves--without condition, without measure, without end." As in "Follow Me through persecution and rejection right to the Cross--and beyond."
We cannot be lukewarm, we cannot keep trying to get by with just enough, we cannot expect God to bless us if we will not always bless Him. We must commit our works--our lives, our homes, our families, our occupations--unto Him, and THEN He will establish His Spirit within us to guide our thoughts, our spirits, and our plans in the direction of His kingdom. For those who are willing to commit to the Lord, to no longer be lukewarm, God will lead us "in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." (Psalms 23:3) He will show us the path of life. (Psalms 16:11)
---
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
---
Do you believe this? Are you ready to commit all your life and works to the Lord? Do you trust in His Word and are you willing to follow His Son unto the ends of the earth to preach the gospel to all creatures? (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15) Do you believe that Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life, and that no one comes to the Father but through Him? (John 14:6)
God isn't looking for people who are lukewarm, who just want to do "enough." He does not want people who think their plans are better than His, who think they are already pure. Jesus came "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:9-10), those who KNOW they cannot reach the Father except through the Son. God is looking for whole-hearted and not half-hearted faith. God wants us to commit.
"You've got to be
Saved and sanctified.
You've got to be
Saved and sanctified,
Filled with the holy ghost,
Filled with the holy ghost.
Oh you've got to be one,
One or the other,
You can't be
Luke warm."
Are you ready to commit?
Holy Father, save and sanctify me, set me apart from the world to do only Your will, to serve Your kingdom. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to guide and direct my path, to establish my thoughts as Yours, and Yours alone. I commit my life to You, just as Your Son committed His life for me. I want to be on fire for You, Lord God, because I know I can't be lukewarm. Amen.
© 2010 Glenn A. Pettit-Noel
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