Have You Taken The Oath

What are you really committed to?

What’s really important to you? What’s sacred in your life? It’s that thing you say to yourself, “If I don’t get anything else done today, I’m going to do this.” What is that thing for you?

Ya know, every once in a while we probably ought to stop and question our commitments. Not because commitment is bad, but because you can be incredibly disciplined about something that really doesn’t matter.

You can spend years climbing a ladder and eventually discover you leaned it against the wrong wall. Are the things you’re committed to the things that actually matter? Do they change your life, give it depth and meaning, and make you better? Maybe the bigger question is this: How are the things you repeatedly commit yourself to shaping who you are becoming?

THEY TOOK AN OATH

I read something this morning in Nehemiah that got me thinking about all of this:

“The rest of the people took an oath. They were the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Temple servants, all those who separated themselves from foreigners to keep the Teachings of God, and also their wives and their son dauge hters who could understand.”

Nehemiah 10:28 NCV

Here’s the backstory. Jerusalem had been devastated. Its walls were destroyed, its gates burned, and the people had lived with the consequences of generations of wandering away from God. Nehemiah led them in rebuilding the walls, but eventually they realized something even more important: rebuilding the wall wasn’t enough; they needed to rebuild the people.

Ezra read God’s Word publicly. The people listened, confessed their sins, looked honestly at their history, and realized they didn’t want to keep repeating the same mistakes. Then they made a written commitment.

Nehemiah 10:29 says they “promised with an oath to live by God’s Teachings.” The Hebrew word behind oath, shevuah, carries the idea of a solemn, binding promise. This wasn’t, “We’ll try to do a little better.” They were saying, “This is what will govern our lives.”

They weren’t simply rebuilding a stone wall. They were deciding what would direct their lives after the rebuilding was finished. That raises a pretty important question for us: What directs your life?

WE EVEN BREAK PROMISES TO OURSELVES

The truth is, we even break oaths to ourselves. We start something and stop. We decide we’re going to change and then slowly drift back. We begin exercising, eating better, praying, reading, fixing a relationship, controlling our temper, getting out of debt, or changing some destructive habit, and somewhere along the way we give up.

James warns about hearing truth without allowing it to actually change us. He compares it to looking into a mirror and then walking away and forgetting what we saw. In other words, don’t just have moments of conviction; build convictions into your life.

Jesus said, “Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants” (Matthew 6:33 NCV). Notice that little word: first. Not if I get around to it. Not after everything else settles down. First. What we repeatedly put first eventually shapes everything that follows.

WHAT IS SACRED?

One of the most powerful things in my life is my Bible, journal, prayer time, and pondering time. It comes first. I really try to love God like He loves me. He’s my first appointment.

I consider my time with HIm sacred because it sets my sail. It clears my head, directs my heart, challenges my motives, changes my desires, and reminds me what actually matters before the noise of the day starts telling me what should matter. And His counsel is perfect.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”

That quiet time with God helps determine what gets to run mine. Then I’m ready to tackle everything else: working out, eating right, getting chores done, thinking about somebody besides myself, helping people, serving people, making the phone call I need to make, and handling whatever responsibilities are in front of me.

And yes, I think we ought to mix a little fun into the day too. Ecclesiastes reminds us that enjoying the life God has given us is good. There’s a strange temptation to postpone living: I’ll take the trip later. I’ll spend the money someday. I’ll call them next week. I’ll slow down when everything is finished. Having had cancer twice and all my family that died unexpectedly, I think different about fun.

You shouldn’t wait to finish to have fun. The problem is, everything is never finished. Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries” (Matthew 6:34 NCV).

Tomorrow may have trouble, so today is a pretty good day to try to make it a great day. Work hard, be responsible, but enjoy some of the life God has already placed in front of you.

WHO IS IN CONTROL?

Here’s another question worth asking: Do you control the things in your life, or have the things in your life started controlling you? Your phone, your work, your money, television, social media, food, other people’s demands, your emotions, or even your schedule can quietly move from being something you use to something that uses you.

Paul said, “I will not let anything make me its slave” (1 Corinthians 6:12 NCV).

That’s a pretty good test. You can own something without allowing it to own you. You can make money without serving money, enjoy food without being controlled by food, use technology without giving it your entire attention, and work hard without allowing work to become your identity.

Something is going to set your sail. The question is what.

SO, HAVE YOU TAKEN THE OATH?

I’m not suggesting that we recreate Nehemiah 10 and sign some legal contract with God. Christ accomplished what we could never perfectly accomplish. But I do think there’s something powerful about deciding what kind of person you intend to become and what things you refuse to allow the world to crowd out of your life.

You may stumble. You may miss a day. You may get distracted or discover that something in your life needs to change. Commitment doesn’t mean you never fail; commitment means failure doesn’t get the final vote. You get back up, reset the sail, and move in the right direction again. Reading God’s word, and spending time with Him first, brings me back to ground zero.

MOVING FORWARD

So maybe today, identify your sacred things. Put first things first and decide what deserves your best attention instead of simply giving your attention to whatever yells the loudest. Read your Bible. Pray. Think. Journal. Exercise. Eat reasonably well. Do your work. Help somebody. Call somebody you love. Spend a little money. Laugh. Go somewhere. Enjoy something God has given you.

Then tomorrow, get up and do it again, because little commitments repeated over a lifetime eventually become a life. Don’t miss the joy along the way.

Maybe the most important question at the end of each day isn’t simply, “What did I accomplish today?” Maybe it is: “What did the things I did today make me become? And did I have joy today?”

LORD, help me know what really matters. Help me put You first and keep the important things sacred. Give me discipline when I want to quit, wisdom when I need to change direction, and discernment to know the difference. Don’t let the things You have given me become the things that control me. Set my sail each morning, clear my mind, direct my heart, change my motives and desires, and help me live this day well. Let me work hard, love people, serve people, enjoy Your gifts, and remember that tomorrow is never promised. Help the commitments I make today shape me into the person You want me to become. Help me live fully - today. IJNIP amen ♥️

(Me and our oldest daughter - Candace)