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Nailing Down Your Commitment

A big part of discipleship—of being a follower of Jesus—is keeping our commitments. So often, we start off our day so well . . . so full of hope and promise. We sense God’s presence and we want to walk in obedience. We’re like Peter, who told the Lord that even if all the others fell away, he wouldn’t. And we mean it.

Then somebody cuts us off on our way to work. Someone is rude to us on the train. A spouse has a rough night and takes it out on us (or maybe the other way around). All of a sudden, our carefully crafted peace of mind shatters. Our commitment to Christian living seems to fly right out the window. And we wonder what happened.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). We believe that . . . but we keep setting our crosses down.

“Taking up” the cross for Jesus meant more than simply carrying it. It meant being nailed to it. The commitment of Christ went all the way. Jesus didn’t just carry the cross—He was nailed to it. That’s a full-out commitment.  And while we could rightly say that it was love that kept Him on the cross, Jesus made a physical commitment to see it through by allowing the Roman soldiers to nail His hands to the wood.

Sometimes we need a physical reminder of our commitment to follow Jesus. That’s why some believers will carry a common nail in their pocket or purse. When their hand comes in contact with the nail, it’s a reminder of the commitment they’ve made to follow Jesus—all the way to the end.

Is it time to nail down your commitment?