Fulfilling My Commitment to Christ

When we became believers in Jesus Christ we also became His disciple. Which means I have made a commitment to Christ to study His teachings and follow them. From time to time we need to evaluate our lives to determine how well I am fulfilling my commitment to Christ.

Nehemiah 13 gives us the account of how the Jews were fulfilling their commitment to following Yahweh after He had restored them to Himself and their land. At this point the Temple had been rebuilt, the wall around Jerusalem had been rebuilt and people had moved back into the city to continue their lives. How were they doing in fulfilling their commitment to follow Yahweh.

In verses 1-14 Eliashib, the Priest, had defiled the Temple by giving the room where supplies were to be kept for making offerings to the Lord to Tobiah, an Ammonite. Nehemiah threw him out and restored the room to its proper use.

In verses 15-22 the Jews had defiled the Sabbath by working and selling on the day that was holy to the Lord. Nehemiah stopped this practice.

In verses 23-31 the Jews had married foreign which was against the Law of God. Nehemiah confronted them with this act of disobedience as well.

It does not appear that the Jews were doing such a good job of fulfilling their commitment to follow Yahweh.

Let each of us look at 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 to see how we are fulfilling our commitment to following our Lord Jesus Christ

In verse 14 we are instructed not to become unequally yoked with unbelievers. This means we are not to be wrongly associated together with them. The reason is that we do not have anything in common with them nor do we have a close relationship with them. This is further explained in the last part of verse 14 and verse 15. Therefore, if I have a close relationship with a non-believer who has an influence in how I think and conduct my life then I am not fulfilling my commitment to Jesus.

In verse 16 we are told that we are the Temple of God and the Temple of God does not have anything in common with the temple of idols. Whatever or whoever is more important to me than Jesus Christ has taken His position in my life. He, and He alone, is the one we are to love and follow. God lives in us and among us and He alone is our God and we are His people.

Verse 17 informs us that we are not to participate in any activity that will cause us to be spiritually unacceptable to our heavenly Father. Anything or anyone who causes me to be sinful must go in order for me to maintain my close relationship with my heavenly Father. As we live such a life we are told that He welcomes us into His fellowship.(Note verse 18)

Chapter 7:1 points out that the promises in verse 18 are ours. Therefore we are to cleanse ourselves which means to be free from sin and a guilty conscious. This we obtain by confessing our sin and asking the Lord to forgive us and this He will do,
1 John 1:9. Then we are to strive to bring "holiness to completion in the fear of God. That is by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to live our lives in a manner that is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord.

The truth each believer must deal with is, "Am I sincerely fulfilling my commitment to be a follower of Jesus in word and deed?"(James 1:22-25) It is my prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ will convict us by His Spirit where we are falling short of fulfilling our commitment to Him and empower us by His Spirit to fulfill the commitment that we have made to Him.