Commitment To God
The path to self-realization is paved with many good intentions but success is elusive. What can be defined as success on this path is the experience of God in our being, not theoretically but in actuality. That is the difference between a seeker and a realised soul.
Many of us on the path wonder as to why we don’t succeed even after years of effort. The scriptures and our Guru tells us that we are God’s children and that he loves us deeply Not only that, God made the universe out of Himself and out of His blessings and yet we find that we are deprived of His love, His presence and His blessings. We continue blindly in the hope of reaching our goal one day but many of us feel despair and dejection when day after day and even after following all the rules of our faith, we still do not find the hallowed presence in our life. In those moments everything seems meaningless and we lose faith. Many of us even abandon the path and go back to living a so-called normal existence. We wonder to ourselves-Does God exist or is He a figment of our imagination?
This article is for all those who go through these hours of despair and who want to know what is missing in our search for our elusive father and our elusive home from which we are told our spirit comes.
The answer is that our inability to see God face to face is not because He does not exist, or that He is a hard task master who makes it difficult for us to find him but because there is something lacking in our approach and our method.
Ask yourself this question. Why do you seek God? Is it to enjoy a better life on earth? Is it to have a protector who saves you from the troubles of your earthly existence? Or is it because you miss the Lord and long to be with Him?
If your answer is amongst the first two then I am afraid that you can never have God’s presence in your life since those who seek God out of selfish reasons can never reach his presence. But if your answer is in the third category then you have a hope of reaching Him. In that situation the question about not finding God’s blessings can be answered in one word.
That word is “Commitment”
What is commitment? Commitment is a resolve that we will do what we promise to do regardless of the circumstances. A commitment can never be conditional and does not depend on circumstances. There are no escape clauses in a genuine commitment. And a commitment comes from Faith. It comes from a deep desire and great belief in what we are committing to and there is no point talking about commitment unless we have at least the intention to commit. A commitment does not flow from our head through some theoretical knowledge but it comes from the heart. Our goal is a breakthrough in our relationship with God. As for those of you who have already made some kind of commitment to God, my hope is that any hindrance that may still stand between you and God will be removed after reading this message.
The biggest reason for the lack of success in reaching God realization is that people think that they have committed-that they are following all the rules that are laid down in the scriptures and that are told by the Guru, but in practice that commitment is only a partial commitment that is shaky and subject to being rewarded. I call this at best a Partial Commitment and it is worse than having no Commitment at all:
Many people drag on in the human life year after year in partial commitment to God. But as the Bible points out that partial commitment is no commitment at all. It is only fooling yourself and is hypocrisy at best. The Lord says, “I wish that you were cold or hot” (Bible, Rev.3:15). “Cold” means turning away from God all together and “Hot” means that you are steadfast and passionate in your love for him. The reader may think that being “Cold” to God is the worst thing to do but in the mind of the Lord, that is not quite as bad as being lukewarm—neither here nor there. You may be 80 percent for God and 20 percent for the world, but the truth is that not even 99 percent is good enough for God. What he requires of you is nothing less than total commitment. Many people are crippled in their human lives because of half-hearted commitment. They don’t experience the joy and peace of the life with commitment. For this reason they can’t communicate with God and God doesn’t listen to their prayers. The problem is that their loyalty has not been settled in their own minds and hearts. They are simply not totally committed to God. In that situation God does nothing. He simply waits for His errant child to understand what is the reality and till then He waits. That is why our prayers aren’t answered. God is simply waiting for us to make the right prayer.
Someone may think that there is no need to believe in God or to be committed to Him. That living an ordinary life is the right way to live. The reasoning is that everyone seems to be doing the same and that God is not required to live a normal life. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The fact is that there is simply no way to live life without total commitment to God. That is the fact of the matter. It is not a matter of theory but a matter of reality and experience. You will discover for yourself that the human life simply won’t work if you don’t commit totally to God. Why is that so? Because the only reason we are born as humans as opposed to lower beings is because as humans, we are hard-wired to seek God, escape this prison of the senses and head back to our true homes. It is far easier to indulge in material existence and indulge in our desires as animals since they are programmed to indulge in the senses. So being born as humans has a greater purpose and it brings with it the chance to finally escape this playground that God created and head back home.
Now if you believe in God then you must be praying to Him. Ask yourself the question-Does He answer your prayers? If your answer is No then there must be something wrong that you are doing. God is actually waiting for you to come home. The fact is that He is not denying you but that you are denying Him. That is why the connection is not being made. What are you denying? It is your commitment.
Many people proclaim that they are totally committed to God. They even abandon home and hearth and leave all the trappings of a worldly life but they are not able to find God even then. Why is that so? The answer is that they are not fully committed (even if they say that they are). There are people even in the full-time ministry of the Lord who have commitment problems. Many people realize this only after they enter the ministry. This is a miserable situation to be in. You may have given up everything to serve the Lord, only to find out that you have no spiritual power, no joy, and no fellowship with God. The mistake is that you are holding back a little something for yourself and that undermines your commitment. All in all, commitment has to do with the most important subject of all: our relationship with God.
Let us now discuss what the real meaning of Commitment is.
It means that you love the Lord with your entire being and that there is no difference between you and the Lord.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Bible, Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
Whether you are asleep or awake, or outside the house or inside, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. That is total commitment, plain and simple. That the Israelites are to love God with their entire being is repeated in Bible, Deuteronomy 11:13 – “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Lord said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind.” (Bible, Mathew22:37)
This is what the Bible says about Total Commitment to God (Bible, Psalm 37:1-13):
(1)Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
(2) For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
(3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
(4) Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
(5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.
(6) And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement as the noonday.
(7) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of Him who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
(8) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
(9) For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
(10) For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider His place, and it shall not be.
(11) But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
(12) The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon Him with His teeth.
(13) The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that His day is coming.
Follow the above and I promise you that your commitment shall bear fruit…
