The average person takes about 6,000 steps per day.¹ That’s 42,000 steps a week, 2,184,000 a year, and 167,731,200 steps a lifetime. Of those, the four steps that are the most important are those in the direction of heaven.

Step 3: COMMIT your life completely to Jesus. What does it mean to be committed? If we are committed to our families, how can they tell? If we are committed to our jobs, how can the boss tell? If we are committed to our team, how can the coach tell? If we are committed to get an education, what will we do?

Eliphaz got one thing right in His speech to Job: “I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause” (Job 5:8). Every person on earth should commit themselves to God.

• “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5).
• “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established” (Proverbs 16:3).
• “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).
• “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
• “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:15).

A second look at these verses shows that God wants us to commit our cause (Job 5:8), our way (Psalm 37:5), our work (Proverbs 16:3), our cares (1 Peter 5:7), and our futures to Him (2 Timothy 1:12; cf. Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59).

Take Johnny Unitas, for instance. He is often called the greatest quarterback ever to play the game, but almost never played at all. He began his career as field general while a sophomore at St. Justin’s High School when the starting quarterback broke his ankle. Johnny had less than a week to learn the entire offense. He did well, was recruited for college, and wanted to play for his dream team, Notre Dame. They were unwilling to take a gamble that his six foot, 138 pound frame would bulk up so he accepted an offer from the University of Louisville. He made a solid reputation for himself and was drafted ninth by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1955. But he was cut, given bus fare home, and went to work at a steel mill. By this time he had a wife and family to support. He played semi-pro ball for the Bloomfield Rams for $3 a game. And he practiced. And practiced. He hired high school boys to shag balls. He tied a tire on tree and threw the ball from 20, 30, and 40 yards for thousands of hours. He paid the price.

Finally, in February of 1956, the Baltimore Colts called and signed him to a $7,000 contract. So began a 17-year career with the Colts. The 1958 title game in which Unitas took the Colts on two 80-yard drives to beat the New York Giants 23-17 is considered by many as the greatest pro football game ever played. Johnny U retired in 1973 and left behind him records for: most pass attempts (5,186); most completions (2,830); most total yards (40,239); most touchdowns (290); most 300-yard games (26); and most consecutive games throwing touchdown passes (47). He led the Colts to one Super Bowl Crown, three NFL championships, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Why? He was committed!

What does it mean to “commit” ourselves to God? The best answer may come from an unusual Bible text. Luke records: “And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore” (Acts 27:40). What did this mean? The sailors ceased to fight the wind for control of their ship. They gave in. They decided to put all their hope in one place. They acquiesced.

This is what it means to commit to God. Peter wrote, “Wherefore let them . . . commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19). To commit means to relinquish control, to give God the reins, to put all the eggs in His basket², to give God the passwords, the power of attorney, the driver’s seat and the keys. The temptation is to give God a lease, but not the deed. We want to hand over the keys, but keep a spare set. We want to be copilots with Him.

Jesus will have none of that. He dares us to get beyond a “just get by religion.” A “what-is-the-least-I-can-do-and-still-go-to-heaven” Christian won’t make it. If we think we have just enough religion to save them from hell, then we find out we don’t have enough to get us to heaven. Can you imagine someone saying, “I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to change my soul or alter my life, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. . . . I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.”³ It is not possible.

Christianity never goes on sale. There is no bargain basement or discount outlet. It has only one price: everything that you have. It is either pay full price or go home empty-handed. Jesus said, “. . . whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Jesus forces us to change our lives. He demands our time, possessions, and interests. If we are saddle sore from fence straddling He says, “Either get in or get out” (Revelation 3:15).

God has always expected first place (Exodus 20:1-6; 23:19; 1 Kings 17:8-16; Malachi 1:6-8, 10, 12-14). He demands either first place or no place at all (Matthew 6:33). He is the first consideration in every decision; the final factor in all steps of life.

Footnotes:

¹ http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/WALK.HTM
² The word commit (παρατιθέσθωσαν) literally means to “give in charge as a deposit” (Vincent’s Word Studies).
³ Wilbur Rees, from When I Relax I Feel Guilty by Tim Hansel