Maybe you've seen this commercial and didn't realize that it actually has a spiritual principle behind it. Click on the link below to check it out:
OK, so being a former Marine, I like this commercial anyway, but there's also a spiritual principle here. As we're about to wrap up the Basic Training series at our church I realized that if you really search the gospels and listen to what Jesus says over and over again, you realize that Jesus and the Marines have this in common.
The both don't accept applications...only commitments.
I think Marines only take commitments because there are going to be times that you just want to quit, but you can't, you're committed. They basically own you for the four years or whatever time you have committed to - the direct your steps (literally), they provide for you, they tell you what to do and when to do it, whether you want to or not. It all works because everyone knows the rank structure, and here's the spiritual principle: the prerequisite to commitment is submission.
True for us as Christ-followers too. Are you fully submitted to the leadership of Christ in every area of your life?
Whew! This challenge is . . . well . . . challenging.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am still finding myself completely unaware of God and then other times I'm anticipating the hourly alarm and feeling so in-tune to what God has in my day, and yet another time I find I'm sighing and saying, "Ok God, I get it. You're here in this situation even if I'm not thinking about you being here". He is always making His presence know, whether I am paying attention or not.
I had a situation where there was someone I wasn't looking forward to bumping into and I had been praying that when the time came God would give me the words to say. I had rehearsed some things, in my mind, that might be nice or non-confrontational, knowing that I would have to approach this person if I saw them anywhere. It happened this morning at the gym. I wasn't paying attention to anyone around me, just doing my own thing, when they approached me. What a surprise. Even more of the surprise was that I felt only love for this person! So much so that I even had the urge to hug them (I refrained so as not to freak them out)! So we chatted for a couple minutes and it was pleasantly brief, but I walked away feeling good about the encounter and knowing that God was in it with me doing His thing--a little restoration mixed with maybe a dash of healing and a little gracce and mercy thrown in there too. Now I'm praying that is just the start for this person . . . and for me too!