Maybe you’ve heard the old joke, “Do you know why the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years?  Because, even back then, men wouldn’t stop and ask for directions!”

I will never forget an ill-fated sightseeing trip our family took while vacationing in Colorado.  A close relative led the way as we drove through the scenic Rocky Mountains.  But when we turned off the main road onto a dirt road I became a little suspicious.  I asked our tour guide if he knew where he was going.  He said, “Trust me.  I know where I’m going.”  Farther along though, as the dirt road gave way to a narrow trail I once again questioned our guide.  Again he answered, “Trust me.  I know where I’m going.”  Several hours (and miles) later as we crossed the Wyoming state line, our confident guide confessed that he had been lost all along.

Many people are lost today as they are travelling down the highway of life.  Sadly, because of pride or just outright stubbornness, many refuse to admit they are lost.  You hear it all the time, “Trust me.  I know where I’m going.”  Famous last words.

Life is a journey from here to eternity.  Do you know where you are going?  While many refuse to admit they are lost, and while others have received some bad directions that are taking them farther down the wrong road, God has graciously given us a roadmap that shows the way.  “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).

It’s a mistake to run the race of life trusting in yourself or looking to another person for directions.  Run the race looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.  Put your trust in Him alone.  He knows the way.  He is the way.

Pastor Todd Weston

Sheri and I are reading again Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great.  The book opens with this statement, “Good is the enemy of great.”  According to Collins, there are many companies and organizations that have not achieved greatness because they are satisfied with being good.  The book begs the question – Why settle for good when you can strive for greatness?

Let me put it another way – Why settle for being an average Christian when God has given you the potential to be an outstanding Christian? 

In 1 Cor. 14:12 the apostle Paul did not challenge the Christians in Corinth to seek to be average.  He didn’t call them to set mediocrity as their goal.  He challenged them to seek to excel!  He challenged them to spiritual greatness.

And why not?  There’s nothing average about our faith and the ministry we are called to.  The God we serve is not average.  The blood that washed away our sins is not average.  The power the enables us is not average.  The book we read is not average.  The message we preach is not average.  And the eternal home to which we are going is anything but average!

Everything about Christianity has the mark of greatness stamped on it.  It’s not the average commandment; it’s the Great Commandment!  It’s not the average commission; it’s the Great Commission!  Jesus is not an average savior; He’s a Great Savior!

As you seek to excel in other areas of life, do not overlook the most important.  Be passionate in all areas of life, but especially in your walk with God and service to the Lord.  Seek to excel as a man or woman of God.  Seek to excel in your knowledge of the Bible.  Seek to excel in prayer.  Seek to excel in godliness.  Seek to excel in your passion for the Lord and His work. 

Don’t settle for being just a good Christian.  Strive to be a great Christian!

Pastor Todd Weston 

Here's a not-too-difficult riddle.  It's a three-syllable word, increasingly rare, maybe should be added to an endangered species list, everyone praises it, few practice it, and nothing of lasting value gets done without it.  We all know the answer, so let's say it together: COMMITMENT!

So what has happened to this time-honored value?  Where did it go?  Why is it that so few people can be counted on for the long haul?  Of course, the excuses for breaking commitments are many:

• I'm bored
• This isn't fun any more
• It didn't work out the way I thought it would

Or we default to what is considered the fool-proof excuse for Christians, "The Lord is leading me in a different direction."

Of course, that can happen.  After sixteen years pastoring in Manhattan, Kansas, God led Sheri and I to SW Florida (talk about a different direction!) The church in Kansas accepted our move as the leading of the Lord.  After all, we were there a long time.  I'm not so sure how they would have felt about it had I resigned within the first six months. The way some people move in and out of commitments, you would almost think God is schizophrenic.  One day He says do this; the next He says do that.

I think the problem is that we have somehow lost the biblical concept of commitment.  Of putting your hand to the plow and not looking back.  Of enduring to the end.  Of finishing the course.  Of sticking with the job until it's complete.  

Speaking of sticking with the job, that's exactly what John Mark didn't do in Acts 13.  He was given the opportunity of a lifetime when Paul extended the invitation to join his missions team.  John Mark said, "Count me in!"  So off they went on the first recorded missionary journey.  But no sooner did they start than John Mark called it quits (Acts 13:13).  Maybe you've done that, too.  Left when you should have stayed.

It was the apostle Peter who came alongside John Mark.  Peter knew something about broken commitments and how to recover.  It's believed Peter helped John Mark so that later on Paul was able to say of him, "he is profitable to me for the ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11).

John Mark went on to make good, and so can we.  May God baptize us with a good dose of STICK-ABILITY!  That special something that keeps us from quitting when we're discouraged, and enables us to faithfully stay at it. Remember: quitters never win, and winners never quit.  So don't grow weary in welldoing.  Keep your commitments. God promises a great reward to those who don't quit! (Galatians 6:9)

Pastor Todd Weston

Bob Dylan spoke the truth when he sang, The times they are a-changin.’  If the times were a-changin’ back in 1964 when Dylan recorded the song, they are really a-changin’ now! 

Recently, I’ve been reminded again that things don’t stay the same for long.  Our world is constantly changing all around us.  People are constantly changing, too.  Time changes us.  Appearance, opinions, circumstances, and friendships all change with the passing of time.  Life is in constant motion, and it seems to be picking up speed.  It feels like someone floored the accelerator pedal and now it’s stuck!

Maybe this is how the Hebrew writer felt as he neared the end of his epistle.  Because from out of nowhere, seemingly unrelated to anything that had come before it or would come after it, the Hebrew writer inserted this statement of fact, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Hallelujah!  Jesus is the one constant in an ever-changing world.  He was the same when He spoke the creation into existence.  He was the same when Abraham led Isaac up the mountain of sacrifice.  He was the same when David composed the beautiful psalms of praise.  He was the same when the wise men knelt to worship.  He was the same when He rose again on the third day.  He was the same when you knelt at an altar of repentance and asked Him into your heart.  And He is the same today!

All that He ever was He is today.  And all that He is today He will be forever.  He is the Christ for all of your yesterdays, your today, and all your tomorrows.

Come to think of it, I never was much of a Dylan fan.  So I have a better song to sing.  It goes like this, “Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same.  All may change, but Jesus never!  Glory to His name.”

 

Pastor Todd Weston