Committed

Ruth 1:15-18 (NIV)—

'Look' said Naomi, 'your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.' But Ruth replied, 'Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.'

A New Year’s resolution I made a few years ago was to stop reading a book I wasn’t enjoying. Releasing myself from the commitment to finish every book, gives me freedom to put down books I’m not enjoying, to pick up another that will potentially afford more pleasure. I have become a fickle, yet more widely read individual!

But there are other commitments that make my life richer, even when they are hard work. I’m committed as a friend, pastor, wife, mother and, most importantly, I’m committed as a disciple of Jesus. This last commitment frames the others: it teaches me that life is not all mountain-top moments, surrounded by support and encouragement; life sometimes looks like valley-isolation, filled with misunderstandings and fatigue. I was impressed to hear Michelle Obama share about the difficulties in her marriage. She said to those considering marriage, ‘You have to be prepared to have long stretches of discomfort.'* Commitment is a choice to engage in the valleys of struggle, not just on the mountain-tops of joy.

The phrase I’ve often used when sharing about the Christ Church plant is, 'this is going to be hard!' I always say it with a smile because it’s an invitation to commitment. Commitment runs like a golden thread throughout Scripture: God's commitment to his people Israel and ultimately his commitment to us all, expressed fully in Jesus' life and death - and resurrection!

As Jesus' disciples, we are invited to be committed to the city we live in, praying for its prosperity. We're invited to commit to our neighbours, loving them even if they are hostile. We're invited to commit daily to the love of God in Jesus. Life will at times be hard, with valleys along the way, but there are mountain-tops and such joy and freedom in a committed life.

Prayer — Lord, teach me by your Spirit to be fully committed to you as you are fully committed to me.

*https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/18/michelle-obamas-philosophy-on-marriage-.html