Throughout life, we each make a variety of commitments. Starting fairly young we commit to Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, Little League, dance lessons, ballet and music lessons. As we get older we commit to a team, club or AP classes. Eventually most of us commit to a person in a marriage ceremony. Commitment in one way or another is a common aspect of life.
Some commitments have a time component of six months or a year. Some commitments are open-ended.
Not only do we make a variety of commitments we also break a variety of commitments. We decide that we don't really want to be in Scouts, or Little League or the AP class anymore. So we drop out and move on to our new found interest and make a new commitment.
The two extremes regarding commitments are: making commitments and never straying from the commitment and never making commitments of any sort.
You've probably heard people say: 'Why make a commitment that I can't keep or that I'm going to break? Isn't it better to not make a commitment than to make one and then change my mind and break the commitment?’
Learned attitudes and practices regarding commitment can migrate from one area of life to others. Depending on the area of life that the attitudes and practices migrate from and to; the migration can be positive or negative. Learned attitudes and practices can carry over into a person's faith journey.
Jesus' story of the soil is partially about commitment. Three of the four soil types are about commitment. Two of those three soil types are about making and breaking commitments. The other soil is the one that made a commitment and kept it.
How has your learned attitudes and practices towards commitment impacted your commitment to follow Jesus? Is following Jesus just like all of the other commitments?
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