God calls believers to continue our faithfulness to Him and His teachings. This encompasses steadfast trust and dedication, even in the face of hesitation or adversity. His call is both an honor and an obligation, requiring wholehearted commitment and obedience. By answering this call, believers partake in “God’s redemptive work and bring Glory to His name.”
Christians must daily recognize that we are sinners saved by grace. Otherwise, we will begin to feel superior to those whom we see on the streets and in the news. Yes, we often feel superior to those with whom we worship in our churches. Paul teaches what it means to be dedicated believers. (II Cor. 6:1-18) As Christ has loved us, we must also love others.
I could claim that one of the greatest hindrances to God’s call to dedicated believers is a tendency to associate dedication with something that we do. We get caught up in the busyness of church work, church programs, and church organizations without realizing that God’s church is not an organization but a living organism. If we are to be the embodiment of Christ, who we are is more important than what we do.
It’s not the committees on which we serve so diligently, but the commitment to Holy and righteous living. It’s not the programs which we sponsor and plan with precision and detail, but our progression in spiritual maturity from milk to the sincere meat of God’s word. It is not how many and how great the positions which we hold in the church, the community, and the convention, but how deeply our souls are anchored in the Lord. It’s not how much we hunger for position, power, and prestige from a world perspective, but how much we hunger for a closer walk with our God on a daily basis. A dedicated believer is someone who sacrificially offers oneself to God in selfless devotion for the purpose of allowing, “God kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Let us remember as dedicated believers that our local church mission is the heart of being and doing. This is the area of life that shows what is central and determinative for the congregation. It is mission that says to us and to others that Christ is the center of our fellowship, that sharing Him is the key to our calling, that here is how and where we differ from community or social organization and clubs.
A path has been cut through our “valley of the shadow of death.” Truth and falsehood, love and hate, sin and forgiveness collide in moral conflict. The resurrection says to us that the victory belongs to God. Through faith we inherit the power that the resurrection provides. “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory?”
