“The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9, NLT) When thinking about what it means to be fully committed to Christ, I felt the Lord lead me to ponder the type of commitment involved in two “extreme sports” - ‘base jumping’ and ‘paragliding.’ Both involve a full commitment (i.e. total dependence / complete trust in) in the equipment associated with each sport . Whether flying at 700 feet in a paraglider, or stepping off of a 2,000 foot cliff, both participants enjoy the blessings of their sport by exercising faith/trust over the genuine fears/risks involved. As I reflected upon that observation, I thought how that principle is also true for Christians. Christians are called to totally surrender (be ‘fully committed’) to the Lordship of Christ in our lives—to love Him completely (Matthew 22:37-40). Hebrews 10:22-23 declares, “Let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting Him...Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.” (excerpted) Wow, did you catch that awesome life point—God desires true (sincere, real) hearts that fully (completely) trust Him! When a base jumper’s feet leaves the ground, that’s a powerful picture of TOTAL commitment! He leaps ’joyfully’ into the air, leaving the security of the solid earth to soar, if but a few seconds, like an eagle (Isaiah 40:30-31). The same is true with a paraglider—as his aircraft demonstrates the laws of aerodynamics by developing more lift than drag, he and his man-made fowl break the bond of gravity and climb gently into the sea of air above the earth. Is our Christian faith this evident to others—are we “fully committed” to Christ and His Word such that we daily strive to “live for/walk with” Him (Acts 4:13 & 15:26)? Are we stepping out “in faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7) each new day that we awake, or are we simply staying on the ground, “playing it safe?” Soaring with the eagles is indeed risky stuff—but nowhere in His Word are we promised a life free of risk or injury! We are promised a “safe landing,” not a smooth journey along the way! In fact, God even puts us on notice that at times, we will assuredly encounter severe turbulence in our life flight to heaven (‘persecution’ & ‘hated’, John 15:20, Mark 13:13) if we seek to be fully committed to Him and His Kingdom purposes. So the question is, “R U Fully Committed to Christ?” Examine your life closely—it will easily reveal the order of the priorities of your heart. Let’s jump out in faith together—serving Him with lives that are fully and totally committed to His Lordship...for if we do, this nation and today’s culture will be touched for Christ unlike never before! We are truly in need of Christians today who are willing to live the EXTREME life that accompanies a daily decision to be fully committed to God & His living Word! …Selah!Today's video can be viewed upon clicking on the title, "Christ the Redeemer Base Jump" and involves an Austrian man who jumped from Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to perform the lowest BASE jump ever recorded. This is a GREAT representation of what it is to give your life fully & completely to Jesus Christ to be "fully committed!"
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