April 4, 2011 - Commitment demands one’s best effort!

As I prepared to preach this past weekend I was still overwhelmed with the theme of “commitment” that I wrote about in last week’s devotion (Captive to a Commitment.) It is great to come to a point of being committed but then how do you stay there?

You have to have not only the desire; you have to have a “game plan.”

Also over the past weekend we hosted Jason Otter (the basketball clinician I wrote about last week.) I mentioned the personal workout agenda that my son has from him. At 6:30am Saturday morning we opened up the gym and when Jason walked in he looked at my son and said, “Clay, I have a 12 yr old that has logged in more than you this week. What’s the problem?” Jason was simply holding Clay accountable to his commitment.

In fairness to Clay - there is not always a gym available, nor is the weather always cooperative; sometimes there are homework commitments that have to be met; sometimes practices for the AAU team; muscle strains; etc. Yet commitment demands sacrifice and some careful planning to get things in. (both Jason and Clay showed their commitment level over the weekend as they spent around 16 hours on the hardwood, working hard!) Commitment demands one’s best effort!

Leading up to following through with one’s commitment the person must have a couple things be true about him.

1. Be Coachable: the player must be willing to listen and learn. He must set his “eyes” on the goal that is laid out by the trainer.
2. Be Conditioned: every great athlete has to work hard and be smart. He must get proper nutrition, proper rest, proper practice time, etc.

These things are what lead to true commitment. For the spiritual application I encourage you this week to study Colossians chapter 3 and look for the pictures of being coachable and conditioned that lead to verses 17 and 23 which command total commitment! (If you have the Message version read it also - or go to BibleGateway.com and pull it up – it has a great rendering of the passage.)

I love the wording in verse 25: “Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.”