With out Involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment — Stephen Covey. Just how involved are we in the Lord’s work? Remember that at the age of twelve the Lord Jesus asked his mother: “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
Are we committed to our heavenly Father’s business? Can we be committed if we are not involved? If we are not involved in our Father’s business, in whose business are we involved? What takes our time and gets our attention? Just how do we spend our time each day — taking care of our business or our Father’s business?
People who have invested their life savings in a business are committed to make it a success. They don’t just put in their time at work, they work. They don’t come late and leave early if they are committed. It is not difficult in the world to see the difference between a committed employee and one who is just putting in time. The employee who takes a personal interest in the business spends more time on the job and persists until he achieves results.
Do we think that the Lord can tell if we are really committed to our Father’s business? If we are sporadic in our attendance at the meetings, are we committed? If we seldom seem to find the time to do our daily Bible readings, are we committed? Remember, without involvement there is no commitment. Are we interested in the lives of our brethren and sisters or do we arrive just in time for service and leave immediately after? Do we help make ecclesial functions successful or do we criticize the efforts of those who organize them?
Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
What fruit do we have to show our commitment? If we were a tree, would we have fruit, would it be good fruit, or would we be cut down? There is a time soon coming when we will have to answer to the Lord, who will examine our fruit or the lack of it. The time to be committed is now. If we have commitment now, we are focused and active in the Lord’s service, but if there is no commitment, there is no fruit, no works. James said, “Faith without works is dead.”
The message to the ecclesia in Sardis was, “I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead.” Are we dead? The exhortation to Sardis and to us is: “Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.”
Let us resolve in our hearts to be fully committed to the Lord by being involved in His business. The extent of our involvement demonstrates our commitment just as our works demonstrate our faith. At the dedication of the temple, King Solomon exhorted the people saying, “But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands.” Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it and underline it and then do it.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One