On Commitment

I promise when I typed this blog’s URL into the address box, cobwebs popped up. It’s been that long since I even opened it. In an effort to avoid harping on about my inconsistency, I advise you to check out Amma Konadu (if you haven’t already) when you have the time.

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(PS Before you go to church, pray for a message. Pray that God will speak to you so distinctly you can’t miss it, because the point of going to church is to connect with God. And He will speak to you.)

Today’s sermon was hard. Eish. It was titled ‘Be Committed to Your Call,’ which I renamed ‘Do Not Be Derailed.’ I’ll try to compress it into bite-size chunks.

To be derailed is, well, to go off your rails. A train is supposed to move on its rails, and if it goes off its rail tracks it stops moving or may flip over.

Every Christian is called to do the work of God. Some way or other, we’re supposed to lead people to Christ. But it’s insanely easy to get derailed in the cause of your work. Of course, it doesn’t mean it will definitely happen, but the possibility’s always there.  

We’ll look at a couple of guys in the Bible and see how the avoided or fell for the derailment trap. 

The Paul Example

You know Paul, right? Great guy. At a point in time he was going to preach in Jerusalem, and it was prophesied that if he goes there, he will be killed. Know what he said? He’s prepared not only to go to prison, but to die for the cause of Christ. Paul was called to tell the Good News (as all Christians are), and he wasn’t about to let the fear of death shove him off the path of his work. (I’m a Christian, but I can’t say I’ve got that level of commitment.)

The Joseph Example

Our handsome Jewish slave decided it was God he would serve, so when his master’s wife decided to play cougar games with him, he didn’t give in. In his words, ‘How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ he landed in prison because she framed him. It made sense that he’d suddenly revolt and say, ‘You God. I’ve served you all my life. But what do I get? Slavery. Prison. I’m done.’ But did he? Nehi jaliki.

The David Example

Take David. He was a king. And one of their duties then times was to go to war. Now David was taking a walk on his roof at a time when kings were supposed to go off to war. He should not have been at home. But he was. Was he tired? Was he bored? Was he finding that being king was too big a task for him? Ohoo. And he saw a woman bathing. And desired her. And got her pregnant. And killed her husband. And it happened because instead of staying on the course of a king and going to war like he was supposed to, he stayed in—or on his roof—, a seemingly harmless act that sent the dominos crashing.

What stuff derails you?

You’re not grounded enough

Your own lack of focus will do this very easily. If you’re not grounded in the word of God, you don’t pray enough to figure out what He’ll have you do, then just about any wind can sway you any way. One day you’re professing your love for Jesus because He’s the all-powerful. Another day the love of the world will have you bending the knee to drugs or money or whatever else your eyes are lusting after.

Friends and family

Yup. Don’t get me wrong; some of them are not intent on keeping you from reaching your destiny. It may be something else entirely. You may have a parent who’s too concerned for your safety to allow you take a risk that might actually be necessary for your spiritual development. Your friends may tell you to dream dreams that are more fitting to your status, like if you’re super rich and you decide to shirk your comfort to volunteer as a healthcare provider in a remote village.

Even our Joseph’s papi, Jacob, tried to derail Joseph. Not that I blame him. I mean, in which reasonable constitution will it make sense that the father will someday serve the son? Liiiiiike! So he told him to shut up about his dreams.

Desire for Public Recognition

You’re working for God. Therefore the recognition and reward you should expect should come from God. If you’re doing your thing, sweeping the house of God, singing in the choir, and you get little more than an occasional nod in acknowledgment from a random passerby, don’t start to waver in your commitment. Nobody owes you praise. The one you’re aiming to please is God. He will reward you as long as you’re doing what He called you to do, whether the rest of the world recognizes your hard work or not. The moment you start grumbling because people are not praising you, you’re losing sight of the rail tracks, you’re losing commitment, and that reward is not going to come.

Remember. What you’ve been called to earth to do is kind of a big deal. (I can’t tell you what it is. Pray and find out.) And the enemy is walking about with eye red, just looking for a chance to creep in and push you off-course. Look at the heart of things. Will you let fear derail you? Paul didn’t. Will you let pleasure derail you? Joseph didn’t. Will you let a moment of weakness derail you, like David?

How can you tell you’re off the rails?

You’ll need to recognize the signs. Are you losing passion for God because of recent (or past) decisions? Are you slipping to old bad habits? If you’re not, you’ll need to guard yourself against being derailed. Be a kid of prayer. Never get so proud that you think you’ve got it so under control, you don’t need God’s direction. Know what you’ve been called to do. Study the word of God, consistently. Remember you’re here to do the work of the one who sent you, not yours, or anyone else’s.

And if you’ve been derailed? Get back. That you recognize you’ve gotten off-track is proof that God’s still holding out the light for you to find your way back.

Ji. That’s it.

I don’t know if you needed to hear this. I know I did. I’ve been struggling with some things and this message hit me. Like God rolled the words up into a ball and threw it at my forehead and said, ‘Child, take your peace!’ And I did. (After about ten minutes of debate, because I can be unnecessarily stubborn sometimes.) And I feel lighter (no joke. I’m sure if I stood on a scale I’ll find that twelve kilos have gone. Who knew church would be more effective than my diet?) as I’m here writing this in Writer. (And if you’re a writer, download the Writer app. It’s really cool. Unless you use an iPhone and you just put everything in Notes. In which case, meh.)

Yeah so that’s it.

(Not that it matters, but today I didn’t buy my weekly Sunday cheat-day spring roll. Because some of you spring roll makers have chosen to put beans in your spring roll. What kind of life is that? Now I even have a phobia for spring roll. You people should respect yourselves and stop being derailed from the traditional tried and tested spring roll recipe.)

Don’t be derailed. 

(PS: The above post is edited. Message isn't changed though. Muchas gracitas.)

(PS 2.0: Yes, I know it's muchas gracias. I was adding style.)