As of today, Ryan and I have been married for five years. When we married, we made a commitment to each other and before God. I think sometimes people forget the “before God” part. Granted I believe we have a mutually good marriage. Are there times when we are not happy with each other? Sure. Do we work it out? So far yes. What happens when the focus in your marriage isn’t God. As the hymn goes “turn your eyes upon Jesus… and the things of earth will grow strangely dim…” Some people think when you get married that your first priority is your mate but really it should be God whether you are married or not. Your spouse and your children should never come before your commitment to God. Matthew 10:37-39: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
There is a lot of meaning and opportunity for reflection packed into those few verses. We won’t unpack all that today! What does it mean to be “worthy of Jesus?” It means that we will be serious in our commitment to Him. Was does it mean to be committed? Dictionary.com says it is “feeling dedication and loyalty to a cause, activity, or job; wholeheartedly dedicated.” In the Bible, the church is metaphorically married to Jesus. What closer relationship is there than marriage? It is the most intimate of human relationships. There are several things we agree to when getting married chief of which is that we will not have an intimate relationship with anyone other than our spouse. In the church and our lives, we must put God first. What does that mean? What does putting God first look like? It means remembering what we said we would do when we were baptized. Yes it includes following the 10 commandments. It also includes the great commission of Christ. Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We are to be representatives of Christ to everyone we meet. Whether friends and family or strangers and coworkers.
As the definition about commitment says, we must be “wholeheartedly dedicated” to God’s will. Jeremiah 29:13 “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” When we give our hearts over to God completely then He will enable us to keep all our promises whether to Him or to our spouse or to other people. Through His strength we will succeed. When we do not keep our commitments or promises what does that say about us? That we don’t care, that it wasn’t important enough, that we were too busy? If the people in our lives think that when we don’t follow through on something how does God feel when we slack in our commitment to Him? Maybe we aren’t all missionaries to another country. But we are all missionaries in this world. As another song says “this world is not my home I’m justa passing through.” I know I’ve said before how we can witness to people we come into contact with everyday and that’s true. But how often do we pray to God to SEND people our way?
A few months before Ryan and I met I prayed to God one of the most sincere prayers I’ve ever prayed in my life. And perhaps it was even a selfish prayer… I said “Lord send me a nice man, who will love me, want to spend time with me, will treat me well, and will be a good Christian man.” Seems a bit silly right? Well I’m here to tell you that He followed through on that prayer. And here we are 7 years or so later. We can prayer not only for us to witness to others but for others to witness to us! Other people have testimonies as well that can encourage us in our own walk. I’ve heard (don’t quote me) that Ellen White said not 1 in 20 people IN THE CHURCH will be ready when Christ returns. That’s sad and scary. We need to not just commit ourselves to reaching out to others but also to our church family, even our own spouses.
When Ryan and I (I pray) get to heaven I’ll be able to turn to him and say, “Jesus saved me, but I’m here because you told me the truth about Him.” I’m not sure if anyone will be there that will say that to me. And we won’t know our true influence until that time. So don’t give up. Don’t think that witnessing isn’t something you can do or that you don’t know what to do. It can start with baby steps. Having worship as a family at home, treating those at work with kindness even if they don’t seem to deserve it, reaching out and being there for people who may seem to have it all or have nothing. No one is above the need for Jesus. I encourage you this week to pray for God to lead people into your life whether you already know them or not that you may share the love of Christ with them and perhaps even they with you. Recommit yourself to God, and to His great commission every day, one step at a time.