Committing Anew

I don’t know about you, but I for one am so happy this year is coming to an end! I think I’ve been sick all year – down in my back several times, three surgeries on my vocal cords in twelve months, my sister’s decline in health and ultimate departure from this world due to cancer, dealing with a crazy world, getting even crazier and a political world following close behind. Physically and mentally, the year 2016 has weighed heavy on most and I’m ready to start fresh and anew; turn the page; start a new chapter. But, I have to admit I have been most highly blessed over-all. I am cancer free at the moment, I am over thirty pounds lighter and my wife’s health has greatly improved. Praise God!!

In the early 1800s, Billy Bray was known as a no-good drunken miner in the village of Twelveheads in Cornwall, England. But then he was converted to Christ and he was never the same again. He stopped drinking, became a productive member of society, and told everyone he met about his Lord. “I can’t help praising God,” he once said. “As I go along the street, I lift up one foot, and it seems to say, ‘Glory,’ and I lift up the other, and it seems to say, ‘Amen.’ If they would put me into a barrel to keep me quiet, I would shout, ‘Glory’ out of the bunghole. Praise the Lord.” Billy was often heard proclaiming these words: “He has made me glad and no one can make me sad; he makes me shout and no one can make me doubt; he makes me leap, and no one can hold down my feet.”

The world famous tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, related a story about his upbringing and success. “When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, ‘Shall I be a teacher or a singer?’ ‘Luciano,’ my father replied, ‘if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair,’ I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book, or whatever we choose, we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair."

[Joshua 24:1-24] This great advice applies to many aspects of life and, most important of all, to Christianity. As Joshua taught the Israelites that it is through the power of God they have been blessed and it is God they should worship only, in the same manner Christ plainly spelled it out, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24 NIV). We cannot be servants of sin and of righteousness simultaneously (Romans 6:19-20), nor can we be conformed to the world and to God at the same time (Romans 12:1-2). As Joshua stated so boldly, we need to “choose whom we will serve.” We need to choose which chair we are going to sit in. We can sit in the chair of Christianity or some other chair. Hopefully we will sit in the same chair as Joshua did and echo his powerful statement, “...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). How about you? Do others see you praising the Lord no matter what the situation? Is everything you do centered around Jesus? Just consider all the Lord has done for you and let that rule your life, attitude, and words. Live your Christianity loud and proud and praise the Lord! Count your blessings - see what the Lord has done!