March 13, 2020
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Who has any idea when they're standing there at the altar looking all goo-goo eyed at each other what those vows really mean? But there's a reason for those vows. They anticipate what a marriage commitment to someone really means over a lifetime. I'm glad they video record or audio record weddings. As the years unfold, you need to listen again to what you promised. Our wedding was recorded. Actually it was chiseled on stone tablets by a stenographer. It was a long time ago, but it wasn't that long. No, really. It was too soon for a video tape, but we did get an audio tape. We had the privilege of writing our wedding ceremony, so we got to make a very personal commitment to each other in our vows. But for all the words we said that day, three words capture the essence of what it means to totally commit the rest of your life to someone: "forsaking all others."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Go To' god That's Got To Go."
The night I married the precious love of my life, I wasn't only committing myself to love her. I was abandoning any other love - past, present or future. I hadn't met all the other women I would meet in my life, but that didn't matter. Sight unseen, not knowing what would come up, I was forsaking any other partner and committing everything I had to one woman for my whole life.
Your marriage commitment, as important as that is, is the second most important commitment in your life. And it's far behind the most important one. The most important commitment of your life is the one you make to Jesus Christ, because He's the One who died for you. He is your only hope for now and forever. He's the One you were made by, He's the One you were made for. As the Bible says, "All things were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). That includes you. He's your reason for living; He's your destiny. If you don't belong to Him, you're literally missing the reason there's a you.
But here's the problem. Many people look at the incredible love Jesus showed for them by dying for them on the cross. They look at the awesome power He has proven by His resurrection from the dead and they say, "Yep, I want to belong to Him." And then make a commitment to Jesus.
But many miss the "forsaking all others" part of a lifetime commitment - the abandoning of all other gods. In other words, you can't have a one-hand Savior - a Savior you grab with just one hand while you keep your other hand on another god. I call it your "go to" god - whatever you go to when the pressure's on, when the feeling's gone, when you're hurting, when you're restless. It could be a guy or girl you hang onto or something you use to relieve your pain, or it could be old friends, or old habits, pornography, a religion or spirituality that's just not about Jesus being your only hope, things you do to feel loved or accepted or significant.
When you do that, you're slapping Jesus with the ultimate insult, "You're not enough, Jesus. I need this, too." "Jesus and..." That just doesn't cut it anymore than having told my wife that I needed my wife and someone else. That wouldn't cut it. When Jesus has sacrificed His life for you, when He has all the power and all the love in the universe, how could you need something or someone else to fall back on?
Not long ago, at a conference for young people, I asked them to write their "other gods" on a card - the things or people that they tend to go to when the going gets tough. There was a cross at the front of the auditorium. At the end of the meeting, I asked them to bring the card that represented their other gods and, if they were willing to do this before the Savior who would never forget what they did, to tear up that card and leave the fragments of their other gods at the foot of the cross.
Look, you don't have a card, but I'm asking you to make that same kind of surrender to Jesus where you are. To finally make Jesus your two-hand Savior - the One you're holding with both hands because you've abandoned what's always been in the other hand.
Look, this total commitment to Him is where you begin to experience all His love and His power. Go there today. Get this done. Our website will help you with it. Go there today. It's ANewStory.com. Let this be the beginning of your new story.
He surrendered everything for you. Can you do less for Him?