Transcription
There are different degrees of commitment. There are different degrees of commitment.
Your commitment can be average. When it's average, you never go out of your way. When it's average, you only contribute. We are not bothered about whether the goal is achieved or not, but at least whatever is the standard levy, you make your contribution, even when you could have single-handedly taken care of that need.
There is a low level of commitment. There is an average level of commitment. There is also a high level of commitment. High level of commitment. And then there is the absolute level. Absolute level of commitment. Also, there is passionate commitment. Passionate commitment. There is half-hearted commitment. [Music] Half-hearted. There is lukewarm commitment. Lukewarm commitment. Then there is divided commitment. Divided commitment.
Sometimes your children will not ask you, "Who is your pastor, Daddy? Who is your pastor?" Because today you say is this pastor, tomorrow is that online pastor. Who is your pastor? Your own children will ask you. There is divided commitment. Divided commitment.
But a type that we should all walk towards giving to God is what is called wholehearted commitment. Wholehearted commitment. This is a level of commitment where you become, you will eventually become a friend of God. A friend of God. A friend of God. You become, you are now operating as a friend of Abraham. Enter that level. Abraham entered that level. So the kind of commitment that we need to express towards God is what is called wholehearted commitment, to be completely and sincerely devoted to God.
Somebody can be completely devoted and not be sincerely devoted. [Music] Because the person is doing it for some reasons, for some motives. [Music] But the one that is wholehearted, complete, sincere, from the heart.
Today we now see adjusted marriage vows. It's no longer "for better or for worse." It's "for richer and for richer." It's okay. Beneath, we say, "Oba ma, oba ma." It's for richer and for foreign. Spiritual people that said, "Don't let me also move." That is not. We are not confessing the right thing. How can you say "for better for worse," "in sickness and in health"? Don't say they change it for "better and for better," "for in health and in prosperity." So if anything happens in the opposite direction, you are on your own. That's the spirit. That's the spirit. That's the spirit.
Let's, let's put aside this opportunistic lifestyle. Your church is going through a challenging time. You deserve your church. [Music] Your pastor of many years that you have taught people, loves you and preaches the good word. It has a little challenge. It doesn't. You deserve your pastor. Then tomorrow, that problem is solved. What do you do? [Music]
So there is an absolute level of commitment. There is divided commitment. But this wholehearted commitment, to be completely and sincerely devoted to God, you don't hold back anything.
And then there are some signs of wholehearted commitment. Number one, you will always go the extra mile to meet up with your responsibilities and obligations. Not promises, not words, no sweet words. These are the signs. These are the proofs. These are the evidence of wholehearted commitment. Number one, you will always go the extra mile to meet up with your responsibilities and obligations. [Music]
So when somebody doesn't care what's happening with the family, the person is no longer committed. When you are genuinely committed, you will always, not sometimes, go out of your way to meet up with your responsibilities. [Music] You will continue to play your role even when you have a justifiable excuse to stop doing so. You will continue. Other people are giving an excuse, a particular excuse, and that excuse seems convincing. But for you, even though you could actually give that same excuse, because of the depth of your commitment, you still continue to do what you have been doing. When there is wholehearted commitment, you will continue to make your contribution even when you have a justifiable excuse to stop doing so. You continue to make a contribution even when you have a justifiable excuse not to do so. Many people refuse or stop giving their time by simply giving a good excuse. Others will stop giving their resources, including money, by just giving a very good excuse.
Number two, you will always go the extra mile to make sure things work well. You will always go the extra mile to to make sure that things work out well. Things work out well. Now, things work out well. [Music] You will always go the extra mile to make sure things work out well. You will go the extra mile to make sure things do not fail. If you can watch things fail, ah, you are not, you are not, you are not deeply committed. If you can watch things go down, you are not deeply committed to that, to that platform, to that organization. You are not, you are not. The only way things can go down and you do nothing is because it's when you are not aware. When you are genuinely committed, you will be ready to do all that is necessary, all that is necessary to achieve the set goal. You'll be, you go out of your way to do all that is necessary to achieve whatever is the set goal.
And number three, you will always create time. Can somebody say "time"? Say it loud, let your neighbor hear you. You will always create time for that thing. You will always create time. Everybody has 24 hours. We are the ones that decide what we do with our time. You will always create time to be available. You will always create time to attend to that thing. You will always make arrangements to personally attend to such things when it's necessary. And when you are, you are unavailable, you will arrange for appropriate representation. A situation where you are not going to be there and you don't even bother to send anybody, then it doesn't really reflect wholehearted commitment. You will always go the extra mile to make yourself available at very, very crucial times. Very crucial times. When you are genuinely committed, you will create and spend enough time for the purpose, enough time for the project, enough time for the person, enough time for that relationship. And sometimes, apart from being available, your commitment can also reflect in your punctuality.
When you're in, have you seen a football enthusiast whose heart is completely with his football club? The person won't, he won't, he won't watch that match when the match has already started. He knows when the match, he will find out when the match will start. He will create time to watch that match, and he will make sure that he is available to watch that match from the beginning, not midway in the match. [Music] Except something beyond his control stops him from joining to watch that match at the beginning. Left to himself, he will watch it from the beginning. Wholehearted commitment.
Last thing I will say is that there is a reward from God for commitment. Man can fail when it comes to reward. What God can never fail. Can somebody say amen? Hebrews 6 verse 10. We close with that. Hebrews 6 verse 10. Hebrews 6 verse 10. New Living Translation. He says, "For God is not unjust. God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers as you still do." May you not give up before your breakthrough point, in the name of Jesus Christ. God is a rewarder of those who sincerely and wholeheartedly follow him. He is a rewarder. And when you are committed, when servants of God make pronouncements over your life, when servants of God make general pronouncements or pronouncements to a gathering of people, God will make sure that pronouncement is activated for fulfillment in your own life, in your life.
You know, there are times when God will be after your heart's desire. God will not just want to do something for you. He wants to do something that will bring you joy. That is when you hear things like, "Your heart's desire is there." Guarantee. Psalms. Read scriptures. You know, your heart's desire. Your heart's desire. God will, is after what will really bring you joy. Someone is about to have his or her desire. [Applause] Ah, Elisha said, "No, what?" "No, something." And when she said, "No, I live among that. What else can we do?" "What then?" The servant said, "Sir, this woman, she does not have a son, and the husband is the woman is advanced. It's advanced." You know, there's oath, and then another, the higher level of all this. Advanced. It's advanced. And Elijah was happy. And that is the mind. That is how the spirit of God operates. When God sees impossible conditions around you, it makes God happy because when he does something to change that thing, it becomes a testimony to God's glory. And that was Elijah. I said, "Woman, by this time next year, you will carry a son." She was a woman, a kingdom-minded woman, but she found it hard to believe. She found it hard to believe. At her age, and with all her wealth, she must have done everything possible for so long to have that child. She could not. And she now considered it a close case. Yet the word of God. Someone listening, that area of your life that looks like a close case today, the miracle-working power of God gives you a fresh testimony. Every blessing that people around you have received, but in your own life, it has remained a personal impossibility. The God of miracles steps in today to make it happen for you. [Applause] Can I hear you say amen three times? So shall it be. So shall it be. So shall it be. In Jesus name. [Music]