July 19, 2026

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Bible is very clear that Ruth was committed to going with her mother-in-law. She was determined to stay with her mother-in-law. That's that's a love that doesn't want to be separated. How many have a love for God like that this morning? That I don't want God to leave me and I don't want to leave God. I want to go with him all the days of my life. But but when we start in this journey as Christians, and some of you have been saved for many years, and you know that as you start, sometimes it's a little bit naive. We're a little naive when we get saved, right? We think everything's gonna be lovely, everything's gonna be just grand and beautiful, and we don't realize that there will be hardships in the believer's life as a young Christian. We don't really realize that. But as we walk with God, we understand that there are all types of seasons with God. But I'll I I use my dictionary, I promise you, I use my dictionary because my vocabulary, I want to be on the mark when I give you a definition. And a commitment is the active, so it's active, unwavering dedication to a person, a goal, or a cause. When when I say that Ruth was committed, this goes beyond a simple promise or a feeling that she felt that was momentary. And I I believe that as a Christian today, when we committed to serve Jesus, we committed that that we would walk with him all the days of our life, just like Ruth is saying, I don't want to leave you. I don't I want to be with you wherever you go. And so it means a choice to remain steadfast, to take action, especially when faced with challenges, adversity, or when the initial excitement fades. It means you're in it for the long haul. You're committed to a purpose, you're committed to a person, a goal, or a cause. And the true meaning of commitment breaks down into a few core elements. Number one, because I'm talking about being committed to Christ, it means first of all, action over words. How many ever heard of nominal Christians? A Christian in name only. They check off the box on the religion. What is your faith? And they check Christian. But a Christian doesn't only hear the words, a Christian obeys the words. James tells us that if we have faith, we'll have deeds. Now, Paul says that we're we're not saved by our works, but how many understand today that a Christian bears fruit? A Christian glorifies God in the things they do. Those are considered works. Those are considered our works follow us as Christians. And so as a believer, when I'm committed to Jesus Christ, just as Ruth was committed to her mother-in-law, this means that action, it is not just words, but it's something I'm committed to. It means that I'm measured by what I do, not just by what I say. Now, I've seen many people in the workforce come in and they say they'll do anything. Have you ever been in the workforce? When they want the job, they say, I'm not putting down something on the job that I want to do. I'm open to do anything because I need a job. But then somewhere in their tenure, when something is unpleasing to them, they say, I didn't sign up for that. Right? I don't want to do that job. That's below me. But but that doesn't fit the meaning of commitment. It means that whatever you need to do, you will do it. You won't just say that you'll do it. When we say we'll follow Jesus, those shouldn't just be words. When Ruth said, I'll follow you wherever you go, those weren't just words because we, as we read in scripture, both of them, her and her sister-in-law said in verse 10, surely, it says, they said, Surely we will return with you to your people. They both agreed that we're going with you. But Naomi says, No, turn back. You don't want to go with me because I don't have any sons that you can marry. And it says they well, and then she tells her, you can go back. And one kissed her and turned and went back. That was a that was a choice. She wasn't committed into what she said she would do. She had determined that as you weigh this out, the challenges would be less for her to go back. And I'm I'm gonna tell you today that the enemy will tell us that it's not worth the trouble that it takes sometimes to go forth with Jesus Christ. That's the enemy. It is worth everything that we could pay to go on with Jesus. It's worth everything we can offer in life because Jesus is the greatest, the greatest part of life. He is the one who gives us life. And when I say today that I'm committed to Jesus Christ, it cannot just be my words, it must be followed by my actions. I wrote this down. Talk is cheap, but action costs us something. Amen. I heard someone once said it's easy to say I do and get married, but it's it's getting married where you find all the arguments. You can say amen later when no one's around. Because I was talking to Dad just yesterday, and I don't remember what the what he said, and I wouldn't, I'm not trying to embarrass him because I'll tell you what I told him later. But he said, Mother apologized to him for saying something harshly the night before. And I said, Well, Dad, me and my wife were on a project together in the heat, and before we were halfway done with the project, we were at odds with one another. Why? Because it was hot, we were miserable, and it wasn't working out like we thought it would work out. But we're committed to one another, so we didn't back our bags and leave. We cooled off and said, I'm sorry. Amen. I apologize. That's commitment. Sometimes as Christians, our actions don't match our words, but we simply go to Jesus and say, Jesus, I'm committed. I fell short. Lord, I'm sorry. I haven't changed my mind. I still want to live for you, but Lord, in the heat of the moment, God, I said some things I shouldn't have said. Has anybody ever said that before? That's called repentance in the simpler form, right? We repent. We say, God, I missed it. I missed the mark. God, I was wrong. God, but my actions, Lord, weren't right. But Lord, I'm determined. I'm committed. I want to live for you. And Ruth has made a commitment. They owe me. I won't kiss you and turn back. I will go with you. I'm committed. One thing the Holy Spirit reminded me of is how double-mindedness can move us from being completely committed to a purpose. I mean, uh, we can vacillate as people. And so double-mindedness is found in James, where he talks about don't be a double-minded man, but it means experiencing a state of unresolved internal conflict. That means you're just in turmoil. Or divided loyalties, where you constantly vacillate between opposing ideas, choices, and desires. He says it's like a wave of the sea. You're tossed all over the place when you're double-minded. It's just like you're here, then you're there. And as a committed Christian, we can't be here or there all the time and make much headway in walking with Christ. We have to be firm. We have to exercise the fruit of the Spirit, which is self-control, and say, I'm not going to be moved every time things are uncomfortable or things are not like I wanted to be. I'm committed. I'm not going to doubt God every time I don't see God move on my timeline. How many have ever prayed for God to do something and you waited? And you waited and you waited some more and you prayed some more. And you thought God would never answer. And you felt like giving up, but you stayed the course, and then eventually, in the right time, God answers the prayer. That's what we need to do. See, the constant shift of being indecisive or having erratic behavior or lack of stability in our life will produce trouble. It will produce instability. It will cause us to turn and go back if we're not careful. But Ruth said what she meant, and she meant what she said. I mean it will agree. That's the way you are, huh? I'm just going to say what I mean, and I mean what I say. I can say that about my wife. She doesn't beat around the bush, whatever she says. You can take it to the bank. That's what she meant. It's not an accident. Me, on the other hand, I may say something and it comes out. You can take it five different ways at times. I get that from my mother. And I see it in my siblings. But my wife, I can say one of her strong suits as a person is that you know what she's, she's not like Donald Trump. You don't have to read Donald Trump's mind. You know what Donald Trump is thinking. He says what he thinks and he doesn't care. Angela says what she thinks, but she just uses a little bit more sweetness with it. Amen. And as a Christian, we want people to know what we say we're committed to. Someone said, if you tell someone you'll do something, just do it. If you make plans to do it, don't change your plans. Don't let anything interrupt that. Just be a person of your word and say, I'll do it, and I'll and I won't forget. I'm going to write it down and nothing. That is commitment. And when we serve God, like Naomi was serving her mother-in-law, she says, I'm going to go with you. I will not turn back. And so she stopped urging her to go back. So, secondly, what we need is to understand that commitment equals resilience. I mean, you've got grit. You're determined. You show up, you honor your obligations, even when it's inconvenient. How many hate that sometimes you make a commitment, but you follow through with it? You're like, I told them I would do it, and I would really like to stay home. Nobody here has ever done that, right? You engage your mouth before you engage your mind, and you say you'll do something, then you try to think of five different ways. How can I get out of this? No, we are going to show up and honor our obligations, even when it's inconvenient, even when it's tiring, and even when it's difficult. Listen, these are attributes that Christians should exhibit. And I'm afraid to say that many Christians who are nominal Christians, Christians in name only, they do not do what they say they will do. And it it is bringing uh it brings a disgrace or a shame upon the life of other Christians because people throw us all in the same box. And I want to live in such a way that my life, that if I tell God I'll do something like he did with Job, remember what God said to Satan, he said, have you considered my servant Job? Have you considered Job knowing the whole time that Satan had already tried to get to Job because he confessed it? He said, Yeah, I've considered him, but I can't get to him because you've got a hedge around him. He he'd already, God, he sees everything going on in your life. And he says, and God knew the heart of Job. He knew that he was a man that was faithful, a man who loved God, a man who trusted God, and he gave the enemy a leeway or access to tempt Job or to try Job, but only so much. And sometimes when we go through things, as we commit our life to God and things are difficult, we need to understand that God has put confidence in you as his child, and he's allowed the enemy to test you because he knows he's going to give you grace and strength to overcome those things the enemy is bringing against you.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Have you ever thought about that? That God looks at your life and he says, That's my son.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

He can he can he can endure this and he allows it to come. And you're committed to God and you do not curse God, but you bless God.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

The opportunities to accuse God are many in our lives. To think that God is unjust often. But he's not unjust. He's good.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

We won't understand the things we go through often until we make it into eternity. C.S. Lewis, I think I've said it here before. He said, I believe the first words that we'll say as we enter the kingdom of God is, I see. Or I understand. We don't understand now, but resilience means that we show up. There's an old man that came to church, he couldn't hear. And I mean, he couldn't hear a bullhorn in his ear. He was just completely deaf. I mean, and someone wrote him a note one day and they asked him, they said, Sir, you can't hear the sermon. Why are you here? And he wrote back and he said, I just want you to know whose side I'm on. I showed up because I want you to know I'm on God's side. I'm here today to honor God. You're here today to honor the Lord. You're here to hear God. Is there any instructions, God? Is there any further instructions for me? And I'm going to show up and I'm going to be I'm going to be uh committed even in the inconvenient, difficult, or tiring moments. Ruth was saying, I'll go anywhere but back. Verse 16 and 17. He's she said, Wherever you go, I'll go. Wherever you lodge, I'll lodge. Your people shall be my people, your God shall be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Now, anybody could say that. But where the rubber meets the road is when you start going through the difficulties, the tiresome journey. Because it's open-ended. You go and I'll follow you.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Isn't that what we told Jesus? Jesus, I'll follow you. Remember the man that said, Jesus, I'll follow you. And Jesus said, Foxes have holes and the birds of the hair at have nests, and but the Son of Man doesn't have anywhere to lay his head. He said, You're gonna follow me. See, and following Jesus in this life doesn't necessarily mean that we'll have everything we desire. It simply means that where he is, we'll have provision. Amen. What'd she say? The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me and you. And she saw, when she saw this, that she was determined to go with her. She stopped speaking to her. And I put in parentheses about going back.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

You know, I want God to say that about me. He's not going back. I'm just I'm not I'm not thinking he's going back. He's going to walk with me.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

You're going to walk with God. And it let the devil know. Devil, I'm not going back. I'm not turning around. I may have some hard things I'm dealing with. I may have some difficulties. I may be discouraged, but I've made up my mind. I'm going on with Jesus. I'm living for God. And so when she's committed to her mother-in-law, she's committed to a purpose. When you're committed to God, you're committed to the king. You're not committed to popular opinion. You're not committed to pleasing other people. You're not committed to self-comfort. You're committed to your king. You're committed to a purpose.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

And her purpose was to love and care for her mother-in-law. I think a lot of us uh would be encouraged if we had a purpose, if we knew our purpose in life.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Amen. Uh the the purpose to love God is a great purpose. I I thought about uh how how God tells us that that we're to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and we're to love our neighbor as ourselves. And I thought about how that's like a bookend, right? But feel in the middle, you can't go wrong when you're loving God and loving your neighbor, and you feel the middle end. You you may not do perfect, but you will do right. Amen. If you love God and you love others and show up, honoring obligations in committing to Christ, we do as Jesus said, we deny ourselves, we take up our cross and we follow Him. Now I I could ask each one of you individually, was there anything you could have done beside coming to church today? If it wasn't anything but laundry, you could have said, Oh, yeah, I could have done a load of laundry, I could have rested, I could have done yard work, I could have, I could have gone to the mall, I could have gone fishing, I could have done a host of other things, but I was committed to come and worship God and to worship with other believers and to hear the word of God and to be stirred in my spirit to live this life for Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

I think I said it last week. Eternity starts now. Eternity's now, it's not when we get to heaven. You should laugh on a regular basis and be joyful.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Don't always be sad. There's enough to be sad about, but you need to find something good, you need to find something purposeful to thank God for. You need to be committed to God, but but not in drudgery, not in feeling that you're the slave of God. No, you're the child of God. You're you're his child, and God's hands are full, waiting to open them to bless you in ways that you'll never know. But but he's looking for people that he can go the long haul with.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

I think genuine commitment is unconditional. Right?

SPEAKER_01 20:46

It operates without expectation of an immediate return or reward and persists without needing constant bargaining. God, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. God, you do for me and I'll serve you. God's not making deals, okay? God's not making deals with us. God says that he is the Savior. We are the sheep of his pasture. But I'm reminded in Psalm 23 that he leads us beside spill waters. He he gives us green pastures, he causes us to lie down, he restores our soul. Listen, he's not bargaining with us, he's good to us, and he's gonna bless you. But so many people have a list that they expect God to meet. I hear it. And many preachers are preaching it that it's a name and claiming uh gospel. But I've lived for Jesus long enough, I've asked him for things he hasn't given me yet. Have you? We talk about prayer needs, and some of us are dealing with issues that we've prayed about. Does that mean that we're less committed to God? No, it just means that we're human. And in this world, Jesus said in John 16 33, you will have. Tribulation.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

It's not the person next to us that's our tribulation, it's it's just life. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

And so when we're committed to serve God, as Ruth was committed to her mother-in-law, it's not conditional, it's unconditional. And there's no bargaining. I read of a young man just recently, and I read about him years ago, about how he was saved in a crusade, and immediately he began to go home and preach the gospel. And God confirmed the gospel, people believed it, and there were miracles. There were people that were healed. And here he is, a baby Christian. Just saying what the Bible said, and people believed it. But what happened was he ran into opposition. I may know that that's gonna prove your root system. And when he ran into opposition from religious leaders, they said he grew discouraged and he became bitter, and he turned his back and walked away from God, and he declared, I'll never preach the gospel again. Why did he turn away? Why did he fail to go on with God? And here's what I believe. He had unintentionally allowed his heart to place conditional expectations and rewards of his obedience of following God. He expected something when he came to God. And I'm here to tell you, I expect good from God, but I also am wise enough not to expect that bad doesn't come to. Amen. And I want the good to outweigh the bad. But there's no guarantee. Some of you here say, Preacher, what you're saying today, I've already experienced it. I'm here, I'm committed to God. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus, for your commitment. Thank you, Jesus, for your determination. But there will be times or opportunities in the future that we may be discouraged. And I want to encourage you today. If he's brought you through the bad before, he'll bring you through the bad again. If he's been good to you before, he'll be good to you again. All simply all we need to do is to say, I will not turn back. There's nothing back there for me. I will go on with Jesus. You say, Well, that's my plan. And that's my plan. I want to end with this thought. Because what happened with Ruth will happen with us.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Her commitment preceded divine resources. Sometimes simply God's just waiting on us to be committed, then he can open the door.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Not partially committed in words, but in action, saying, Yeah, I I made a commitment, an opportunity to go on a mission trip. And I promise you, I would rather go across the road than to go across the country for missions. But I have to make myself available when I feel the call of God to go. And so I I did, you know what? God opens the door to provide for us to go when we say yes. Proverbs 19, 17. He that has pity on the poor leads to the Lord, and he will pay back what he was given. What he is given. Whatever you give to God is coming back. Whatever you do for the Lord will come back to you. The Bible says, cast your bread upon the water, and not many days it will return. When Ruth went with her mother-in-law and they heard that there was bread because there was a drought, they heard that there was bread in Israel or Bethlehem, the house of bread. They go back, and all of a sudden, Ruth, not knowing, goes out into the fields to begin to glean from what the reapers are leaving behind. The edges of the field in Leviticus were for the poor. And so they could go to the edges of the field. Well, when Boaz saw her, he asked, Who is this woman gleaning in the fields? And then he he gave the command every now and then he says, Drop some handfuls on purpose. He commanded them to bless her. And when she comes back from gleaning, Naomi says, I'm guessing southern vernacular, she says, My lands, girl. Where have you been? To have a hall like this, you know? And she says, Well, I was over in Boaz's field, and it was just blessed. And she says, Oh, this is a setup. He's your near kinsman. She saw something that was taking place. Let me tell you, if she had never gone with her mother-in-law, we don't know what her life would have been. But when she was obedient and committed to following her mother-in-law, all we see is that commitment precedes resources. And because she said yes, God was able to open doors and bless her, and we know the story. Ultimately, he takes her to be his wife, and she don't just glean in the field, she owns the fields now. Divine provision. And I'm just saying today, yes, as we're committed to Jesus Christ, there'll be times that we said, What if I went this way? What if I had done this? And we we may go through trouble and adversity and wonder, but when we've committed our actions to follow the Lord, the end result is that God, He always has resources when we commit to follow Him. And I believe that there are resources that you haven't tapped into, that God says, as you say yes, my hand is full. And I'll drop handfuls on purpose. See, Ruth experienced this because of the blessing that was commanded. And if I and you have committed to following God, and we don't turn back, we keep our eyes upon Him, be resilient, be determined that nothing will separate us from following Him. I think we'll all be singing in glory about the goodness of the Lord on our lives. Amen. If you were read over this little short book, you'll see Naomi at the beginning of all of the trouble. She said, I'll never laugh again. Don't even call me Naomi. She says, Call me Mara. My life has turned bitter. And at the end, we see her bouncing a little baby boy on her leg. Joyful, thankful, and full. Can I declare over you as you follow God, may your life be joyful, thankful, and full of all God's blessings, all his resources, and may the enemy know we're a people who will never turn back from following God. Amen. Praise the Lord. A lot, a lot, a lot people get discouraged and they lay down. They may not quit following God, but it's like in Israel. When they were carried captive, it says they hung their harps on the willow trees and they lost their soul. Find your song. Sing about the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Trust him. He won't forsake us. Amen. Amen. I I want to see and hear the testimony of God's resources in your life. Amen. We trust that you will keep us. And Lord, you won't forsake us, and we thank you for that. And God, I pray, Lord, this week, that you would just show us grace, show us mercy, and help us, Lord, to remember the goodness of the Lord in this land. And we thank you for it. We give you the praise, the honor, and the glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.