OUTRAGEOUS COMMITMENT [Part II] Do You Really Know What You’re Getting In To?

“Do you really know what we’re getting into?” What I said, and the way I said it, came from a position of frustration. Back in the early 90’s, my wife and I had been ‘renters’ for a few years and had been taken advantage of by most of the people we’d rented from. We decided that it was time to turn the tables on our living situation and with God’s help, become homeowners. So we buckled down, cleaned up our credit histories (boy did we owe a lot of people!), paid everyone off, and went through the home buying process. The task was daunting to say the least! We’d never purchased a home and didn’t have a lot of people we knew or trusted who had. There were so many forms, approval meetings, time-tables and deadlines that if neglected, cost more money, that the process proved to be overwhelming ….for me that is! You see, once we determined that we were in a good position to start the home buying process, my wife decided (without any conversation about it) that she was going to leave the ‘process’ part of things up to me. “I trust your judgment”, she had said, and then went back to folding clothes. I began to sweat uncontrollably as I looked over the contract and saw all those ‘zeros!’ It’s the most money ‘I’ had ever obligated myself to paying back. That’s when I broke down and blurted out the sentence mentioned at this story’s beginning. Because the matter was so serious for us, yet she’d refused to take the time to read and understand the contractual obligation we were about to enter into, I took her relaxed attitude as her ‘not caring’. Though I didn’t say it, that’s really what I wanted to say! “Do you even care?”

Well, I was wrong about that. As she had stated, she had simply trusted the judgment of the man she married. That is one of the reasons I thank God for her. But the point I’m trying to drive home is that anytime you enter into a serious matter of commitment, you should make every earnest attempt to fully understand who and what you are committing yourself to. Not to do so means you are taking the people involved (this includes you) and the commitment itself, too lightly! It’s even more so with the things of God and this unquestionably includes marriage! Think about it! In considering marriage, 'who is your first commitment to anyway?' Your first commitment within any relationship that leads to marriage must be to God!

Think, for a moment, about whom God is and the seriousness and solemness of any promise you make to Him. Are you taking or have you taken God too lightly? Do you really understand what you’re getting into here? What could be the consequences of breaking your promises to Him? Wait just a minute! Before you reach for the ‘Grace’ balm, please read Romans 6:1-23 and then Acts 5:1-15 in that order. If you are a beginner to studying the bible, try a NLT version of the bible for easier reading. Did you notice that Paul, through God’s Word warns us not to take Gods' ‘Grace’ for granted and that the Holy Spirit even took action against two people who did? ‘Hey…Isn’t this in the ‘New Testament’ when we are supposed to be under ‘Grace’’? Did you truly understand this before reading these passages? Again, I am just asking you to consider who God is and what His views are toward intentional and careless sin. Don’t make the assumption that you can ‘go into marriage’ with a ‘sin now, ask forgiveness later’ type of mentality. Read and spend some time thinking about Deut 23:21-22 and Ecc.5:4-6. Has reading and meditating on any of the aforementioned scriptures shed any light at all on what God really expects from you or the seriousness of your promises to Him?

Promises one may make to a stranger are usually easy to break. Promises made to someone who you are really, really close to are not so easily broken. You can’t pretend you didn’t understand their expectations. You can’t lie and say you didn’t know what it would really mean to them for you to break your promise. You tend to try and keep promises you make to people you are close to and care about and who you know care about you. This should be more the case when the commitments are made to an Almighty God. The question remains; 'How close are you striving to be with God?'

'Have you really spent quality time with God lately?' Have you ever? How about your spouse or spouse-to-be! A quality commitment to a lasting marriage 'can' be made. That commitment can have a real opportunity to succeed. But it all starts with the first commitment. A real commitment to know, love, and obey God first! He doesn’t need perfection. Jesus has already solved that dilemma. What He needs is a commitment with a true heart! See you all next time for Part III. Much love & Be Blessed. ---Rev