Commitment

Revelation 2:4 - "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."

The first love that Jesus is referring to is their love for God.  They had lost their enthusiasm for serving Christ and His Church.

I love when I see God working in my heart and in my life.  He answers me in such amazing ways, and seldom are they how I expected Him to make Himself known.

For the last week and a half, I have been on our holiday break from school.  It was a much needed break, as I felt like I might be beginning to burn out a bit.  One of the problems I was having prior to the break was that I was so busy with school and work and other obligations, that I was finding very little time to indulge in one of my passions, which is reading.  During this break, I have been able to read 3 books so far, and I am almost done with another (they weren't big books).

The book I am reading right now is one that I bought almost a year ago when I first started to switch to e-books.  After I finished the first three books, I was trying to figure out what I should read next, and I came across this book by Kyle Idleman called Not A Fan.  The book talks about the difference between being a fan of Jesus Christ or a truly committed follower.  The author really challenges the readers to do some hard thinking about their relationship with Jesus Christ, because Jesus did not want fans.  He wanted followers.

The author made reference to this passage of scripture and asks, "What do you do if you find yourself...where you want to passionately pursue Jesus but your heart's not in it?"  He points out that Jesus tells the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:5 to repent and do the things you did at first.  I love that.

God knew what was on my heart other than just wanting more time to read.  He knew that I had felt like my heart wasn't in it as far as my passion for worshiping Him and serving Him and His people.  I stayed faithful in my daily Bible reading and church attendance in the hope that I would hear something that would spark me to renew my commitment.  I got that spark where I did not really expect to find it.  In a book that I had not had a chance to start reading for almost a year.

As I start this new year with a renewed commitment to follow Jesus, and not just be a dorky fan on the sidelines, I look forward with great anticipation to what He has in store for me.  I know it will be nothing but great and mighty things, because that's how He rolls.  We give Him enough to work with of our hearts, and then He says, "Watch this!"

Dear Lord, thank You for working on my heart like this, and giving me a way to share it with others.  I pray for You to work in their hearts and lives as You have mine, so that they will be more open to the great things You have planned for them.  In Jesus' name, Amen!



God Bless!!!