Commitment to God

Meaning> “a pledge to do”

A pledge to do the will of God.

We commit because it reflects the character of our

God, it helps us stay on the right track and it helps us
stay focused on God.

Galatians 2:20)
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I
who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”
Deuteronomy 6:5, God tells us about this commitment:
5. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three Hebrew
youths who were taken captive into Babylon because of
the sins of Israel against God.
These men, along with Daniel, would not defile
themselves, but held firmly to the Law and worshipped
only God.
Then came the day when Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego were called upon to answer the question:
How strong is my commitment to God?
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had made and set up
a huge golden idol, and he required everyone to bow
down and worship it. And if they did not worship it,
they would be put to death.
Nevertheless, these three young men continued to
worship God and refused to bow down to the idol.
Thus, as we picked up the story this morning, some of
the jealous leaders of the land reported this to the king
in order to destroy Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They were brought before Nebuchadnezzar who gave
then another chance to obey his command; but if they
refused, they would be cast into a furnace of blazing
fire.
Well, here you are, standing before the king; a b
Daniel 3:16-18.
16. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and
said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to
give you an answer concerning this.
17. "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will
deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18. "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O
king, that we are not going to serve your gods or
worship the golden image that you have set up."
They weren't hurt. Not even a little. They didn't even
smell like the fire, and the ropes had been burned off.
As a result of their witness and testimony,
Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the Most High God and
issued a decree throughout the land declaring this fact.
In our New Testament lesson, we are taking a look at
Stephen's commitment to God.
Stephen was a disciple of Jesus Christ and a deacon in
the church. He had been serving and performing great
wonders and signs among the people. The Bible says
that he was full of grace and power.
His life and his words were a testimony of Jesus Christ;
and as a result, one day some leaders of the synagogue
conspired against him, and they induced worthless men
to falsely accuse him before the high priest.
Instead of defending himself, he delivered a sermon
about Israel's history and God's grace.
Acts 7:51-53.
51. "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit;
you are doing just as your fathers did.
52. "Which one of the prophets did your fathers not
persecute? And they killed those who had previously
announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose
betrayers and murderers you have now become;
53. you who received the law as ordained by angels,
and yet did not keep it."
55. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently
into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God;
The vision that Stephen saw was one to comfort him.
The fact that he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of
God indicated that He was ministering on behalf of
Stephen – not seated, but standing, because of the
importance of the circumstances.
Thus Stephen had the added confidence to tell of this
vision and of his faith. Note his words:
56. and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
57. But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered
their ears, and they rushed upon him with one impulse.
58. And when they had driven him out of the city, they
began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their
robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59. And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon
the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
60. And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud
voice,
"Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" And having
said this, he fell asleep.
Yes, God let Stephen die. But the witness of his life and
death still live on today.
And much of what we know about the early church and
the way Christ wanted us to live and walk with Him, we
have learned from that young man Saul who watched
the robes of those who were stoning Stephen to death
and who became known as the apostle Paul.
Does God really want each of us to commit ourselves as
these men did, even to the point of death?
Yes, He does; but He usually doesn't call upon
everyone to die for the cause of Christ. But somewhere
in the world, right now, someone is being called upon
in just that way.
Can we commit ourselves to God to the extent that our
lives will so reflect Jesus Christ that our marriages will
stay together, in love, because our husband or wife will
see that we really care for them unconditionally, as
Christ cares for us?
Do we love the Lord enough to read His Word, the
Bible, every day?
Within the pages of the Bible are all the gems of
knowledge to help us through the difficult times in our
lives and to help us walk with God.
If we don't read our Bibles, we will not really
understand all that God desires us to know and, in fact,
may learn to do things against God's will.
Micah 6:8.
8. He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Yes, what Micah wrote is exactly what God desires of
us. It really isn't hard to do; that is, if we die to
ourselves.
Dying to ourselves is to surrender our pride to God.
our pride gets in the way of our walk with God, and we
find ourselves walking around it and off the Lord's
pathway.

“For me to live is Christ” – Philippians 1:21

ROMANS 12:2 – a) Total Commitment Means Being
Totally Transformed.
Christ’s followers are called to be light in the midst
of this darkness. Our lives should reflect a positive
difference that those in the world cannot help but
notice. This includes resisting the temptation to
conform to the varied types of worldliness common in
society, including greed, selfishness, humanistic
thinking, a desire for power, envy, hate, revenge, filthy
language, sexual lust and impurity, ungodly
entertainment, fashions that are immodest and
seductive, substance abuse, relationships that do not
honour God and other such things that defy the
standards of God’s Word.
 Our minds must continually be renewed and
transformed (changed) to God’s way of thinking. This
can only happen as we spend time reading and
meditating on His Word (pondering over and over what
it means and how it applies to our lives). This will
allow our visions, values, behaviours and plans to be
directed by God’s eternal truth, rather than by the
world’s temporary and deceptive pattern.
1. Total Commitment Means Submitting To God’s Will.

By having a spiritually renewed mind and transformed

life through a growing relationship with Christ, we are
able to discern and follow God’s will – His desires,
plans and intentions based on His character and
purposes. This is His highest best way of life for us
(though not necessarily the easiest). Some mistakenly
regard the references to “good, pleasing and perfect”
as three levels of God’s will, but this is really a single
description of God’s ultimate purposes. God’s will is
“good” because it leads to a Christian’s spiritual and
moral growth. It is “pleasing” to God because it serves
His purposes, even though we may not always
understand it. It is “perfect” because we cannot
improve on God’s will; it is absolutely what is best for
us in relation to fulfilling His