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Fully Committed to the Lord


As a retired military chaplain, one thing that I learned about the Islamic faith was how ingrained and intertwined it was in the lives of each Muslim and within every level of Islamic business, law, and, of course, their religion.

Now, how that is accomplished and how they get people to go along with that is another story. But, the fact remains, everything about Islam centers around the faith. Nothing in their lives, community and government is absent from their faith. Their faith is the basis and final authority on every aspect of their existence.

Let’s now look at the American Church and the Christian faith. I can’t say it is the same way for us. Sadly, for most, “faith” and “being a Christian” is only one, small, compartmentalized component of their overall life.

In America, we seem to categorize and segregate things into individual subjects like work, school, business, leisure, hobbies, personal life, sports, and so on. For some, faith, religion, church and Scripture is not the center hub of their wheel….it is merely one of the many spokes in their “wheel of life.”

I hope we can reevaluate where we stand in our faith and how committed we are in living out, expressing, and growing our faith. I hope we are doing the same for our church community, and other believers. It is crucial that we adopt words into our vocabulary such as service, obedience, sacrifice, holiness and commitment.

Given the state of the World and how the tide seems to be shifting against the Christian Church, I think it is late, but not too late. We must stand firm, in love and genuine concern for the lost, and allow our light to shine and our voices to be heard. We must come back to the Church, strengthen our faith, and draw nearer to God than ever before. We must forsake the world and all its lure and attraction. Our faith must be the center hub that governs every aspect of our lives.

The words of 1 Peter 4:1-5 could not be easier to understand: “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

The same is true in Colossians 3:5, “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”

We cannot afford to live modest, mediocre, silent, inactive and wavering lives of faith. Everything we do, pursue and spend our time doing must spring forth from a well grounded, intentional faith in Jesus Christ. We must be sold-out, radically obedient servants of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God.

1 Kings 8:61, “And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands….” May we adopt these words of Solomon. May we stop allowing the desires and enchantments of this world from drawing us away from the Church, God’s Word, and our personal ministry. We need to make a choice as to who is really our god. The God who is the great “I AM” or the gods of this world?

May we hear the words of Joshua once again (Joshua 24:15), “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

You cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:13). One has to give way. One must become greater and the other lesser. We pray that you will forsake the world (Romans 12:1-2) and seek, above all else, the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). Let your faith become the center of you life once and for all!

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