Stepping Stones: Thinking About Enlisting?

Transformational Thought

I know many people don’t like billboards. They can mess up the landscape, or have trashy or ridiculous messages…but I really enjoy some of them. Not all billboards, of course...just the ones that make me laugh, or challenge me to think a more deeply or differently about something.

I saw a billboard today with a message that was exciting to think about. It pictured a young Marine, standing at attention in full dress, staring out into the future. The caption read:

“Are you ready to commit to something greater than yourself?”

I’m sure this advertising slogan has persuaded many young men and women to enlist. It’s a high-impact message. And while I’m decades beyond the age limit, I was energized and influenced to consider driving to the nearest recruiting station to enlist.

Why this slogan is so compelling is easy. There is no doubt we are created by God with a divinely implanted need and a longing to commit to something greater than ourselves…to God. We were born with an emptiness and a desire for what John Eldridge calls the Sacred Romance, the title of one of his books. This desire-gone-bad is at the root of many sinful ways and addictions. Satan has sent us so many impostor suitors, which look good on the outside, have a fast start, but fizzle when it starts to count, leaving us wounded and worse off than when we started.

Today, ask yourself the question, “What have I committed to…really?” You will be amazed at how many of your real commitments, I mean on-going commitments, are at the end of the day all about you. Are you ready to commit to something greater than yourself? With this true intentional, lasting, disciplined enlistment will come peace, purpose, power over the crap of this world, and a divine appointment with the King of Kings. It is right at your fingertips, but you have to choose it many times a day over the fake impostors. Your decision, choose well.

Prayer
Dear Father God, I commit myself to You, the power not only greater than myself, but greater than anything in the multi-verse. There are so many forces working against me. Thank You, Father, for Your Holy Words that promise Your peace and “rest on every side”. I pray in the name of the one You sent to recruit and free me, Jesus Christ; and all God’s children said - AMEN!

The Truth
They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
2 Chronicles 15:14-15