LEARNING DAILY

 

Psalm 37:5-6, Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this; He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (New International Version)

 

Commitment is a really difficult concept for many people. For those who have truly given their life to follow Jesus Christ, committing their way to the Lord means “taking the whole of their life and giving it to the Lord” (DJSB).  There are many verses that tell us about faith needed to be saved, that faith is required to please God and He rewards those who diligently seek Him with their whole heart. It takes faith to commit our whole life to Him and trust Him with it.

 

In these verses from the Psalms, we are told that the Creator of all things, the One that knew us before we were even conceived, the One who is in control of all things, and the one who knows even the number of hairs on our head wants us to come to Him in faith and trust Him with all of our lives. He wants us to know that He is worthy of our trust, our commitment to Him and that He loves to give us good things. If you have any doubt of this, you need to look at the cross of Calvary and consider that God loved you so much that He sent His Son to die on that cross so that you would have eternal life with Him – but only if you place your trust, your faith in Him, if you “commit your way to the Lord”.

 

If the world was “perfect” there would be no need to trust God. But the world is not perfect, and it is evil. Psalm 37 tells us not to worry about those who do evil because they will be “cut down like grass”. Yes, evil may appear to be winning, but the Word of God is faithful and true; what it declares will happen. That being said, our joy or happiness is not in circumstances but in the Lord. When it is, He provides so our desires are met (verse 4). Be careful here. As we “delight in the Lord” and begin to draw closer to Him, our desires begin to change from our self-centered, selfish wants to what God wants for us. Do you understand the difference?

 

When we begin to trust Him, commit our way to Him, walk on the narrow way, He begins to change us so we reflect His righteousness. We begin to show the fruit of the Holy Spirit as written in Galatians 5:22-23. Our lives will begin to be “marked by transformation, seen through the renewing of the mind, ever seeking to grow in understanding and discern (or prove) God’s will (Ephesians 4:23). Transformed means changed from the inside out” (DJSB notes on Romans 12:2). This means that when we place our trust In Jesus and commit our life to Him, we begin to act, think, and talk like He wants; His life changes us so that His light or brightness within us shines through us showing others we are no longer living like the world desires. Why? Because we are pursuing Him and not the world. We are committed to following Jesus on the narrow way to eternal life in His kingdom! When we commit to Him, He promises to make our life fruitful!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.