Good morning and happy Saturday. Can you believe it is the end of March already? We are finishing up the first quarter of 2022. How does that happen? Where does the time go? As the prophet of old sang, “time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future…” Well, maybe he wasn’t officially a prophet, but he was accurate in that, and the song is now old.
Speaking of songs, I was listening to the radio the other day as I was running the route to pick up some kids for church. As I waited (and waited) at my first stop, a series of commercials came on. I think it was one of the stations that plays one song for every three commercials. Anyway, a commercial came on to advertise a loyalty program that a company was offering. It extolled the virtues of belonging to their exclusive club. It tantalized you with the rewards that they would lavish upon you. It enticed you with the deep discounts and the copious perks of being their loyal customer. I mean, they laid it on thick. And just as they were running out of time encouraging you to join a loyalty program like none other, they concluded with these words: Subject to change. Well, isn’t that grand? You want me to sign up to be a loyal customer, to shop at your stores, to buy your products, and yet you retain the rights to change the terms of the loyalty program as you see fit? Seems to me that the loyalty thing may be one way.
As I thought about that it struck me that we can be like that in our own lives.
I commit to be a:
- Loyal friend*
- Loyal spouse*
- Loyal employee*
- Loyal team member*
- Loyal sports fan*
- Loyal church member*
- Loyal follower of Christ*
*(subject to change)
Subject to change if the commitment doesn’t meet my expectations. Subject to change if I am no longer interested, get bored, or find something else to do. Subject to change if I perceive it is no longer the best option or doesn’t thrill me anymore. Subject to change if it turns out to be more difficult or requires more work than I want to put into it. Subject to change because, as it turns out, I am not really as loyal as I profess to be. Obviously, the list could go on and on.
I guess the question that each of us need to wrestle with is how we are doing in our commitments? How loyal are we in the areas I listed above and in the other relationships in our lives?
As I close, I am reminded of the high expectations of those that follow Christ. Listen to these words from Luke 9:
57 As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 Then he said to another, “Follow me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”
60 But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”
61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
From our neighborhoods to the nations,
Pastor Larry
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