Summary: - Eccl. 5:1-7, Matt. 33-37, James 5:12 (ESV) - we never know what's on the other side of our commitment - "If you don't make a total commitment to whatever you're doing, then you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking. It's tough enough getting that boat to shore with everybody rowing, let alone when a guy stands up and starts putting his life jacket on." Lou Holtz - "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" Erma Bombeck - "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." Martin Luther King, Jr. - "If you start to take Vienna, take Vienna." Napoleon Bonaparte - "If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?" Joe Namath - "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." Dante Alighieri - "When you have decided what you believe, what you feel must be done, have the courage to stand alone and be counted." Eleanor Roosevelt - "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." Margaret Thatcher - there's a difference between an interest and a commitment - some of God's people have made a decision about Jesus, but not made a commitment to Him - Rom. 12:1-2 - it is impossible to be "sort of committed." You are either committed or you are not committed. It is not possible to be a partial sacrifice - "There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results." Art Turock - "The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed." Martina Navratilova - be committed to less so you will be more committed - we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions - right now, we're making time for what we're commited to
