Pastor's Pen
A monthly message from the hand of Pastor Stockman
A man tells his girlfriend that he would be glad to get married but he has a real fear of commitment. The woman responds, “So you have a 30-year mortgage, a 5-year car lease, and a lifetime gym membership but you claim to have a phobia when it comes to commitment?” Commitment is one of the great gifts a person can give to another. What keeps a marriage together is commitment. What makes a team winners is commitment. What produces a successful business is commitment. What a people-oriented, Bible study-focused mission-minded congregation practices is commitment.
Jesus models commitment for us. Love never comes cheaply. There’s always a price to pay for commitment. And Jesus paid that price. As the old Lenten hymn expresses it: “The sinless Son of God must die in sadness; The sinful child of man may live in gladness; Man forfeited his life and is acquitted—God is committed.”
God was and is committed to our forgiveness and eternal life. “No greater love (commitment) can a man have than this than to die for a friend,” Jesus taught. Then He went to the cross, committed His life into the hands of His loving Father, and died for our selfish sin. God raised His Son from the grave to defeat death and forgive sin and welcome us into eternity.
God in Jesus His Son commits Himself to seeking what is best for us. In gratitude, you and I commit ourselves to respond to His love with words and deeds that follow the pattern he has set for us. We consecrate ourselves to use our time, our talents, and our financial resources to expand His kingdom and to extend His love. Such consecration doesn’t come cheaply. Not for Jesus, not for us. We pick up our cross of sacrifice, deny our self-centered tendencies, and follow our Lord in faith.
Every day, every week, every month, every year we have God-given opportunities to make tangible our commitment to Christ our Savior by our words and actions. Your gifts of time in loving service to others, the use of your talents and skills to carry out God's will, and your monetary donations demonstrate your commitment and are a fitting response to His love in Jesus!
Rev. Reed Stockman