“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously… But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind… he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” Book of James 1:5-8
How often do you think that we truly commit ourselves, fully, to any task or person in our lives?
Ask yourself. “What does it look like?”
When I think of the word commit… I think of committing my physical strength and presence first.
I rarely think of my heart, and if it’s as committed as fully as it needs to be.
I have discovered we can commit physically to a task or person but we are not necessarily fully committed in our heart. I think this is being double minded.
So I asked myself, “Then can you be doing, or performing to the best of your abilities for the task or interacting with that person?”
Sure we get the job done, but is it really the best we could do?
I’ve been in the work force long enough to know that, to my experience, most men do not put forth their best effort when working for a company. The main modus operandi is to put forth the very least amount of effort to get the main points of the task, job, or project completed, with the thought process of, “it’s me versus them,” “I’m out for myself, I’m not working any harder than I need to.”
Does that sound like someone committed?
I’ve had a different experience. I commit to learning as much as I can on a current job, then usually, I’m offered another job down the line somewhere. I’ve never had to press for a job, I threw my hat into a couple of rings when positions came open, but I never had to scratch and claw for one.
I’m finally learning God “places” me where He wants me. I believe it’s because my faith and actions are now lining up with His will and He allows me to see his handiwork in my life.
I had a neat experience at work recently. I fully committed heart and body to complete extra work on day one… in order to be able to take care of some extra heavy work… on day two. I planned it to help the older gentleman on the day shift so he wouldn’t get caught having to do extra work on his last day of work before our long weekend.
I hustled the day before to get set up for the next day and I was fully geared up for what needed to be done.
Then when I arrived to work the next day I hustled back to the extra heavy work that I knew I had waiting for me and when I arrived…
it was all done and put away.
I only had to do a few regular components, was done way early, and when I finished my rounds had an extra ten minutes added to my break because of the hard work being completed and the extra work being done the day before.
Thank you Lord.
It might seem like a small and inconsequential thing but when your talking to God all day, while hustling around, trying to “do it right,” willing to do a little extra to help the next guy… I think that is exactly where God wants us to be.
The thing that struck me was my mind set. I was fully committed body and heart. No hard feelings. No blaming my work load or situation. I am grateful for my current position.
It was all good. It seemed like a small thing.
Then in my Bible reading God led me back to the story of Gideon. It took Gideon a little while to believe it was the Lord talking to him… but once he did get his mind and heart right the day before… on the day of his extra heavy work… it was handled by God also.
The Lord called him a “mighty warrior,” Gideon considered himself, “the least in my family.”
The Lord also told him to, “go in the strength you have.”
It took Gideon a little while to wrap his mind around the whole thing of him defeating the Midianites, and he ensnared himself with a golden idol after the fighting was all over.
It seems Gideon was remembered in Hebrews, in the list of those of faith, but where did he fail to fully commit himself? Was he missing some information? He talked with the Lord face to face… what more would a guy need to fully commit to a certain way?
I am left pondering what my personal “strength” is and if it is also my personal weakness.
I am also pondering where the Bible says, “the Lord is my strength,” and if I am fully committed to that thought.
I am committing myself to learn what the next steps would be in my writing career that will teach me how to become more serious in my approach.
What or who are you seriously committed to?
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