Expensive Commitment

Having a hobby can be costly. Whether the hobby is golf, scrap booking, painting, collecting, etc., there is money involved. To be really good at the hobbies the more money that will need to be invested. Golf, for example, will take buying your own clubs and then spending money on the sport of golf to improve your skills. Buying all the special punches, decorative paper, and books for scrap booking can add up as well.

Christianity is not a hobby that one can pick up from time to time and it have much of an impact in your life. It is one that needs to be practiced and used. Too often Christians want to say they are in the "Christian club" but they only are involved "on occasion." They like to take advantage of the benefits, but they do nothing to improve their skills or have any involvement. They forgot to realize that there is a cost involved to being in the "club" and the price is not cheap.

Sunday we looked at Matthew 8:18-22 where Jesus is challenging a couple of men in their quest to follow Him. This is no light challenge from Jesus. He may even come across as insensitive to some. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Get Real ~ Have you ever looked at something in your life with such a thick filter that you didn't realize you needed to improve? I think there are times when we need to take a hard look at re-evaluate our commitment to our Christian life. Are we willing to be second to others? Are we willing to forgive? Are we willing to share our faith? Now that you're willing...do it!
• What's Your Master? ~ We all have something or someone that masters us. The master may not control you at all times, but they have a heavy influence on you. Generally when that master demands something, you are going to respond. That response may even be consuming your mind with thoughts. If any of those things that may "master" you are pushing away your commitment to Christ, you need to change your focus.
• Comforts versus Commitment ~ What is your priority? Will the comforts of avoiding contact with someone who needs to have a "light" of good news in their dark world take priority over your commitment to be a follower of Christ?
• Cautious, but Not Overcautious ~ To need to get to the other side of a busy street you are not going to simply dart across. Instead, you will make sure it is safe to cross. To follow Christ does not mean that every time we are going to not think about what we're doing. So to be cautious about what you are about to encounter is one thing, but to be so cautious that you do not engage in your commitment to Jesus is how we miss the mark. Or as Jesus says, "let the dead bury their own dead." cf Matthew 8:22

Being involved in Christianity is an expensive commitment. Are we willing to pay the price?

Now it's your turn...what "expenses" have you had to consider in your Christian walk?

Leave Yesterday Where It Belongs

Yesterday: the day that preceded today. That is basically its definition. The ironic thing about is that the "day" may be defined that way, but we often try to carry it further. Have you ever tried to carry "yesterday" into today? Do you have things on your mind that they "rent a room" in your mind so that they will be there the next day?

A hotel room costs money; it also costs to leave things on your mind. Getting a single room is costly enough, what if you had to pay for a dozen rooms? Your most basic "nice" hotel is around $35 a night, name-brand hotels can cost around $100 a night. You do the math at taking on a dozen rooms, it can get expensive.

That same expense is what it may be like with you when you bring "yesterday" and it's components, into today. If you bring with you a dozen worries, it is going to cost you. This cost can eat at you daily. What if you bring with you things from the past, not just one night, but say the last three months it's been "renting a room" in your mind. WOW...that is going to get expensive!

As you think about the weight and cost of "yesterday" read the following quote...

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some
blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to
be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are probably some exceptions, but think to yourself about all the time and energy that you've wasted allowing things to take up space in your mind that happened "yesterday". When we keep bringing with us things from yesterday into today, or worse, things from days ago, it keeps us consumed with using energy to keep it around.

If we would just learn to let the "yesterday" be exactly that. Carry as few things into the next day as possible. Don't even bring "tomorrow" into today, as that takes unneeded effort. Let us let today be the day we take advantage of and put our energies into.

Let the past dissolve, be excitedly patient about tomorrow, but use your energy to make today the day that you be you.

Use this day to it's fullest!