HAVE YOU MADE A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE LORD?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin,
you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching
that has now claimed your allegiance.
(Romans 6:17)

MEDITATION:
If you attend church very often,
you have probably sang the song, “Just As I Am”.
It is usually sang at the end of the worship service
as an invitation for people to come to Christ.

It is a time when some people make a decision
to stop going in the same direction they’ve been going,
and instead choose to give their life to the Lord and start following Him.

One of the lines in the song I never thought about until recently is,
“Just as I am, and waiting not, to rid my soul of one dark blot”
It’s the cry of someone who has a ‘dark blot’ of sin in their life, but they are
desperate for a relationship with the Lord and they are not going to wait until
they can get rid of the darkness before going toward the light of the Lord.

When we think about it, that one line speaks volumes.
We don’t have to try and clean up our lives before coming to Him
because the Lord accepts us ‘just as we are’.
All the Lord wants from us is a sincere commitment
to change our direction and follow Him.

And when we do, He indwells us with the Holy Spirit to assist us
in cleaning up our lives (we need to keep things in the right order).
What areas do we focus on ‘cleaning up’?
We start with the things that we know God does not like
and some of those are found in Proverbs 6.

There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him: (Proverbs 6:16)
In verses 17-19, we see that God hates:
– A proud look
– A lying tongue
– Hands that shed innocent blood
– A heart that devises wicked schemes
– Feet that are quick to rush into evil
– A false witness who pours out lies
– A person who stirs up conflict

When we review this list (and remember this is just a starting point),
we can see that God expects us to have an overall change of attitude.
We make a conscious choice to stop being selfish, self-centered and insensitive.
We choose instead to become people of faith who love and care about others.

This is how we go about purifying our minds and becoming new people of faith.
Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves
from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness
out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)
The more we focus on the good things, the less we will have thoughts of the bad ones.
However, if we do nothing, then everything will remain the same, and maybe get worse.

ACTION:
What will you do with God’s offer of salvation?
Will you continue on the road you were traveling?
If so, then have you really committed to becoming a follower of Christ?

Will you keep one foot on the road you have been traveling
and the other foot on the path that follows the Lord?
That’s not a full commitment is it?
God wants all of us and is not willing to share us with the sinful influences of the world.

When we commit to Him, we agree to become His disciples.
We choose to ‘sell out’ to the Lord and become usable by Him.
Of course being usable by the evil one leads to separation from God,
but when we are usable by the Lord, it means we have gone ‘all in’ as believers.
A half-hearted commitment is descriptive of someone who is unusable by God.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your free gift of salvation. Forgive me
if I have taken Your gift for granted and failed to work toward purifying
myself from everything that contaminates my mind and spirit. Help me
in my efforts to perfect holiness in myself and become usable by You.”

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