A LIFETIME COMMITMENT

September 7, 2001

If you visit our home, you will soon realize there is another member of the family living there with my wife and me. It is the family dog, Tomic (I call him Dufus). We bought him from the animal shelter about eight years ago when our two daughters were still at home. When they were with us, Tomic was no problem for me. They took him for walks, bathed him, and did most of those things that dogs require. But now it is different, most of the time, because of my wife’s schedule, I bathe him, let him out in the mornings, and do those things our daughters used to do. My schedule is also demanding and most days the time I devote to taking care of Tomic is time I could use elsewhere. But, you see, eight years ago we made a commitment. When we brought that puppy into our home, we committed to caring for him his entire life.

It seems as if in our present society, commitment is almost a thing of the past. No longer do young people starting out expect to commit to spending a lifetime with one employer. Many "live together" rather than commit to marriage and over half on those who commit to another in marriage will not keep their commitment and will divorce.

This lack of commitment must not permeate the church. When one comes to a faith in Christ and clothes himself with Christ in baptism (Galatians 3:27), that person is making a commitment. He or she is committing to a lifetime of servitude to our Divine King. It is a commitment that should never be abandoned for any reason. It is a commitment that must be honored, not only when to do so is fairly easy, but also when it may be extremely difficult. There will always be those who turn back to the mire (2 Peter 2:20-22) but let us be people that strive to keep our commitment to the Lord.

Tomic and I are committed to each other, he knows it and I know it. That commitment will end one day when one of us dies, but death will not end my commitment to the Lord for death will be but a step unto an eternity of committed servitude to Him. The Hebrew writer penned, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23 NKJV).