Our Commitment to Christ
Steve W. Reeves
On
June 6, 1944 the largest air, land and sea invasion ever attempted occurred on
the wind-swept beaches of Normandy, France. The decisive battle that followed
led to the liberation of Europe from Hitler’s Nazi Germany. More than 6,600
Americans lost their lives on that one single day as they fought in a place
many had never seen in a country many had never visited. They gave their lives
for the freedom of thousands they never knew.
Forty
years later an American President stood on a cliff overlooking those same
beaches. There were no sounds of artillery or gunfire, only the crashing of
waves against the shore and the fluttering of flags in the wind. Before a crowd
of veterans President Ronald Reagan asked the question, “Why did you do it?
What compelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk
your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all of the men of the armies
that met here? We look at you and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and
belief. It was loyalty and love.”
Are
not faith, belief, loyalty, and love the fuel for our commitment to Christ? In Matthew 16:20-21 Jesus explained to His
disciples that the time was approaching when He would go to Jerusalem to suffer
and die. He went on to tell them that being His disciple would require a significant
sacrifice from them. In verses 24-25 He said, “If anyone wishes to come after
Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For
whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My
sake will find it.”
Every
Christian should stop to examine their faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). What does
our commitment to Christ require of us? Are we willing to deny self so that we
might devote greater time, talent and resources to God’s work? Have we died to
ourselves (Romans 6:3-6; Galatians 2:20) so Christ might live in us? Are we
continuing to follow Christ with steadfastness and persistence in an
increasingly hostile culture?
The
world shall forever be indebted to those brave allied soldiers who stormed
ashore at Normandy almost seventy-three years ago. My prayer is that future
generations in the church may one day look back at us and be thankful for the
faith, belief, loyalty and love that characterized our commitment to Christ.
