Our Conviction And Commitment To The Lord
We must first be convicted to God and Christ and Their word before we will be committed to Them. To be convicted is to be persuaded and convinced of the truth of God’s word. Our conviction comes from a study and belief of God’s word. To be committed is to trust God with total confidence. If we are not convicted there will be no commitment. Our conviction and commitment are not "what is the least we can do to get by?” We can never do too much for the Lord, but we can certainly do too little.
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24). Jesus also said, ”He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37-38). Does the life we are living show we are worthy of Christ? Do we love other people or things more than we love Jesus? Had we rather be with someone else, at a ballgame, or some other entertainment, than to assemble to worship God? Where are our priorities? If we offer Christ second place in our lives, we offer Him nothing, because He will not accept second place. He must always come first in our lives. If we are committed to Christ, we will always give him our very best and not our leftovers. Christ must be the total Lord and Master of our lives.