Skip to main content

Commit

            Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3)

          I admit it. In case you haven’t read between the lines of late, I’m feeling a little off kilter. It’s the time of year when things are supposed to change. School is supposed to start. As it happens, I may be going back to “school,” to learn to be a master gardener, but I don’t know yet, and it doesn’t start until October. Snowbirds are supposed to head south. It’s sort of like when someone takes something from you and you don’t know what to do with your hands. It doesn’t help that I’ve decided to learn to crochet hats, but haven’t picked a pattern yet.

          I don’t know if anyone else is in the sort of a funk. The reality is that nothing is wrong except (wait for it!) my attitude. However, today’s verse is food for thought. What does it mean to commit something to God? The definition involves pledging or binding someone or something to God. If you commit your day to Him, He gets to decide what you do. If  you commit a project to Him, He decided whether and how it moves forward, what the end will be, and where or how the outcome will be used. Too often, it seems as if we say we commit something to God, but hold onto it as if it was still ours.

          I feel as if I’ve done that with my garden, and as if I keep doing that with my life. I know I have published my books, then refused to learn to market them effectively. I have the same problem with job hunting. Really, when it comes down to it, the moment my mind has a chance to go AWOL, it does. And then the doubts creep in. Sure, I’ve committed X to God, but did I really? Is this what He wants? When, where, and how did I screw the whole thing up? Are my plans really established? Or am I fooling myself? Whimper…whine…

          But commit means though thick and thin, light and dark, and doubts and delights. If I think I’m committing, and somehow don’t get the committing part right, it’s time to learn from my mistakes and try again. Committing means that the outcome belongs to God, and that outcome may not be fame, fortune, and power. It might mean work, pain, and struggle. God’s outcome will glorify God, not necessarily us. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more