Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Genesis 12-15
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 6:24
Jesus: No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money—but you can’t. You must choose one or the other.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Commitment:1. the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc. 2. an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action. Commitment, a word that disappeared from our vocabulary somewhere along the line except when it comes to commitment to ourselves. We want what we want and that’s it. But seldom will we use the word to dedicate or obligate ourselves to anything else. But that’s exactly what God demands of us.
People flit from one job to another, from one relationship to another, from one spouse to another, and think nothing of it. Loyalty and commitment are just meaningless words in our society, today. But God doesn’t work that way. He gave us His all and that’s the only thing He accepts in return. When we come to Him, it’s all or nothing. He knows we cannot serve two masters, just as Jesus articulated to the crowd on the hillside that day in Galilee.
No one can ride the fence in spiritual matters. God is either on the throne of your life or He is not. I either let Him have control of my decisions and actions or I don’t. It’s that simple. If I let Christ have control of my decisions and I consistently, say “yes” to His commands and demands on my time, talents, and treasures, He is Lord of my life and I others can call me a Christian, His follower. If I don’t say “yes” to His commands, if I say “no” to Him, He is not Lord. I might call myself a Christian, but I am not. It’s just a meaningless title.
It’s like calling myself a neurosurgeon. I used to recruit them for a time when I was in the Army. I know what they do. I know what it takes to become one. I know how long they go to school and the courses they take. I know the training they endure and the surgeries they must perform to certify as a neurosugeon. I know even know which residency programs are highly rated by the medical community and which the rest of the neurosurgeons look down on. But just because I know that much about neurosurgery doesn’t mean you want me to open your skull and take out a brain tumor.
There are a lot of people in the world today, I would even dare to say in your church, that call themselves Christian, that are as much Christian as I am a neurosurgeon. Like my illustration, they know a lot about what it means to hold the title. They know what being a Christian is about. They know it’s about believing in Jesus as the Son of God, that He was born of a virgin, He lived, and died for our sins. He rose from the grave and intercedes for us. They know He will return to take us to live with Him. They know there will be a final judgment at which Christ will separate the wicked from the redeemed and the redeemed will live with Him throughout eternity.
But just because they know all those things and believe all those things are true, Satan knows all those things are true as well. Jesus tells us even the demons believe in Him. That’s not enough to be called a Christian. To carry the authenticity of the title means to say “yes” to His commands. Always. Not letting “no” enter your vocabulary in response to His will. Carrying the name Christian means commitment, real commitment, putting that word back into your vacabulary and living it each day with Jesus as the center of your life. God as your master, Lord, director, leader, guide, your everything! Commitment, bring the word back to life in you.
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