"C" is for Commit

This month, we're looking at what it really means to live committed to Christ.

If you attended Vacation Bible School in the early 2000's, you probably learned the "ABC Prayer." Maybe you even recited it! This was how the leaders simplified "how to be a Christian" by putting it into a tangible, step-by-step prayer.

The Bible says in many passages all throughout the New Testament that to receive eternal life, all you need to do is believe in Jesus. Believe Jesus was who He said He was, that He accomplished the Father's will for Him, and as a result of Him doing so, out of gratitude, those who believe in Him devote their lives to living for Him. Anyone who believes and lives that way are categorized as Christians.

But for kids in church camp, the concept of being a Christian was simplified into an almost formulaic algorithm. Pray that you "A" accept that you are a sinner, "B" believe Jesus was God's Son who came to live a perfect life as fully human and fully God, die for the sins of the world so we would no longer be separated from God, and rise from the dead so that anyone who believes in Him can have eternal life with God in heaven, and "C" commit your life to Jesus.

I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 7 years old, but I remember praying the same prayer to God many times over the next decade because I wasn't convinced "just saying the prayer" was enough to selfishly ensure that "I was good."

Over two decades, The Lord walked me through a variety of life's trials that showed me the importance of believing the Truth that this world is broken and Jesus is the only saving grace we have. He is...

• All that we need.

• Our only hope.

• The only thing that completes us, makes us whole, fulfills us, protects us, and validates us.

• He alone gives us worth and true unshaken confidence.

• Our only true purpose for waking up in the morning that does not, and can not change.

And learning these things to a point of understanding them personally takes years of living and God's unrelenting grace. These Truths all found within the "A" and "B" part of "the sinner's prayer" is about way more than just saying you believe it; They are about undergoing trials so you can personally encounter these Truths making it so you do believe it-- wholeheartedly.

It's not to check a box so that you can say "you're a Christian, you said the prayer" but to back this belief up with a testimony that proved to you that they are true, for God is who He says He is.

Why do I say all this?

Because recently, in the last year, I've been thinking a lot about the "C" part of "the sinner's prayer." And I was thinking how no wonder no kid was able to robotically recite the meaning of the "C" in the "ABC Prayer" because unless you've gone through the process of truly believing the "A" and "B" parts, the "C" means nothing... and once you have gone through the years (or decades) to understand why it is a privilege to commit your life to Christ, this looks uniquely different for everyone.

Only within the last 12 months have I really felt the refined conviction of what it looks like for me personally to commit my life to Jesus. I think it goes way beyond following the 10 commandments, I think it dives deeper into what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

I think it looks like intentionally living in a way that keeps Jesus first and at the center of our lives. It's looking at everything in our lives and deciphering how He can be glorified in every part of it. It's asking, how do I commit every second of my life to Jesus?

I think it takes a lot of humility, God's grace, prayer, sacrifices, time with the Father, and being willing to be uncomfortable.

Something He has revealed to me since last May is that nothing, not even my own life, is "mine." My life is not about what I want, what my parents want, what makes me comfortable or successful, it's about displaying Him and living out His will for my life. Everything I have or acquire in life is lent to me by God, it's not "mine" it's His.

Any job, home, car, finances, family, friends, church, my body, and opportunities are all His lending to me. "Every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17), the Bible also says "you are not your own, you were bought at a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20); God not only made you, but paid the ultimate price for you too. He paid for you with the life of the only person undeserving of the kind of death only sinners deserve. Do you know what that makes you?

Priceless.

You are God's and God gave you the beautiful gift of life, which again means you and your life are His! Praise Him for that because if He didn't claim you through Jesus, this short, broken life on earth is all we would have. But instead, for those who belong to God and believe in Jesus, this life on earth is only a stepping stone to the perfect eternity we have to look forward to! Therefore, nothing that happens or that you chase on earth matters.

No rejection, sickness, betrayal, economic status, marital status, social status has any impact on your worth, purpose, success or future. Not to undermine the hurt these things come with, but ultimately they don't matter because Jesus took away all power they could have by taking each one and dying with them on the cross.

So praise God! How could you not as a result live your life committed to glorifying His name? As I think about how I can live my life more fully committed to God-- something that's a lifelong journey-- I, again, look to Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, and pay extra attention to where Jesus is in every detail of my life.

Am I honoring Him in my words, actions, thoughts, dreams for the future, my appearance, my work, my friends, etc. To simplify it, I ask, "how can I keep Jesus first in everything I do?" "How can I always choose Jesus?" So again, the "C" part of the ABC (or sinner's) prayer is very personal to each person. We all have our own convictions, so I'm not sharing what you should do, I'm sharing just a few things that I have begun to do.

One of the earliest things I felt convicted about in my deciding to more intentionally commit my life to Jesus was my speech. It's unfortunately very easy to speak negatively and poorly of others, so it takes a lot of grace and discipline to not join the majority of conversations (praise the Lord for His mercy). But there was a time when cuss words left my mouth smoother than cutting through butter, and I started to feel very convicted about it.

I had to fight through the lies of "cussing makes you appear older, and you already are seen as a young pure woman people look down on," "cuss words give you an edge so people don't mess with you," "you've been really hurt by people, you have a right," "cussing is not one of the commandments in the Bible." But the two things that really stood out to me was "do no let any unwholesome talk leave your mouth" (Ephesians 4:29) and the thought of if Jesus probably wouldn't say it, I probably shouldn't either.

But I think the biggest turning point was when He revealed to me that every moment, before I say a word, I have a choice. And choosing to use the vile word is like choosing the world, but choosing not to say it is like choosing Jesus. So I would picture Him standing there, and right before a word would slip, it felt like He stood there asking "will you choose Me?" And that immediately eradicated those words from my mouth.

Another major piece of choosing more intentionally to live for Jesus was being very selective of what content I consumed. I don't watch tv, but between music, podcasts, Youtube videos and books there were a lot of things going into my eyes and ears that made it very hard to have pure, right, lovely and true (Philippians 4:7-8) thoughts, dreams and patience. Paying very close attention to how content made me feel afterwards made what content I chose to consume very clear... and it changed my life.

Lastly, Jesus says in Luke 9:23 that we are to take up our cross daily. We may expect, but we are never promised tomorrow. Therefore, every day is a new day to surrender to God our day, our burdens, our dreams and our desires, and ask Him to be glorified in all. Different seasons make this surrender time in the morning look different for everyone, but again I am so grateful for this season to be able to sit quietly in God's Word and in His presence to be changed by His Word and intentionally give Him my day.

There are many, many more big and little things on how you can commit every piece of yourself, your day and your life to Jesus, but I'll leave that for you to determine between you and your Father.

Friends, it's horrifying how easy it is to develop an idol in our lives. Anything or person that we want more than Jesus is an idol. Anything or person you go to for comfort, validation, protection, or hope is an idol. And Jesus is very clear what is to be done with any idols (read Exodus 32:20). Friends, nothing is worth losing Jesus for. Nothing is worth replacing His place in your heart with anything else. Jesus is worth losing anything (anything) for.

My prayer is that more people would not just say Jesus is enough, but understand that Jesus is enough.

It is a privilege to live, and sacrifice anything for Him. He is so much greater than anything we could get our hands on in this world. It's a joy seeking Him and learning how to keep Him first throughout life-- a journey I plan to be on the rest of my life.

I want to leave you with a quote spoken by one of my friends who has devoted her life to sharing the gospel with people who have never heard Jesus:

“I have one life to live, and it will be spent in full pursuance of friendship with God and seeing others know Him.”

May God have all the glory for any achievement or success on earth.

Thank you for reading :)