That Kind of Commitment

I think most of us have heard the fable about the chicken and the pig. It seems that both of them heard the news of a “ham & egg” breakfast. The chicken was more than willing to participate and encouraged the pig to do so. The pig answered, however, “That’s easy for you, because for you, it will just be a matter of a contribution, but for me, it will take total commitment!”
Lots of people shy away from activities or relationships because, they say, they cannot make that kind of commitment. I appreciate their honesty, because that is a more accurate statement than one made by people who say they are afraid of commitment. You see, everyone is committed to, and willing to commit to something.
Take, for example, a man who says about marriage, “I am afraid of commitment,” and then commits himself to a lifestyle of dating women with the expectation of enjoying sex without marriage. He has no intention of making the commitment of marriage, but he is very committed to fulfilling his own need for pleasure, in the way he sees fit. His energies that could be exerted toward self-discipline and devotion to a wife and family are instead spent on himself. He is not afraid of commitment; he just is not willing to make the proper kind of commitment.
Now, think about spiritual commitment. A man may say, “I am afraid I can’t live up to that standard,” and then decide to take up the sport of golf. He commits himself to pursuing the score of par. He buys good equipment, invests in comfortable shoes, pays the greens’ fees or country club dues, and he devotes time—day after day, week after week. The man who will not commit to God because he is “afraid he can’t live up to that standard,” eventually shoots par, and sets his sights for better scores. The problem was not that he could not make a strong commitment. It was that he was not willing to make it for a spiritual purpose.
So, it really comes down to a person’s values. The things that they value most in life will take personal commitment. They will think about those things, devote time and money to them—in short, they will devote their lives to those things they value most. Jesus put it this way: “...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
It is that kind of commitment that Jesus had, and wants. It is that kind of commitment that will cause us to love our wife or husband exclusively, and it is that kind of commitment that will keep us faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10).