As we consider the faith intensity of the Thessalonians we are humbled by the radical abandonment of their lives to focus on Jesus. Jesus was not part of their lives – He was their life (Colossians 3:4). Everybody (probably including Satan) wants Jesus as their Savior but very few will accept Him as Lord of their lives…to rule over them as King Jesus. When we are baptized into Christ we believe and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord – we don’t get one without the other. Consider a related article below written by Douglas F. Parsons:
Commitment – All or Nothing
David Lloyd-George once remarked, “The most dangerous thing in the world to try to leap is a chasm in two jumps.” The story is told of the little boy who cut off his puppy’s tail an inch at a time to keep from hurting it so badly by cutting the whole tail off at once. These two situations illustrate the tragic error of many persons with respect to Christ.
Following Christ is an all or nothing commitment. Trying to accept Christ without total commitment is like trying to leap a chasm in two jumps; you leave one bank and miss the other. Jesus said it like this: “He that is not for me is against me.” The Lord will not share a divided heart. He will not have a duplex for a throne. Look to Christ, commit your life, your talents, your service, your all. Look not for a stone or an island halfway. There is none.
Cutting off the puppy’s tail an inch at a time illustrates the other difficulty people are having with commitment to Christ. Commitment to one thing means forsaking other things. “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” You cannot hold both to God and the world. Sometimes a person tries to give up the world like the time the boy cut off his puppy’s tail – an inch at a time. The result is the same – pain is multiplied.
Make a once-for-all decision. Leave the world. Come to Christ. Commit your all to Him. You can’t leap a chasm in two jumps. Leave the shore of sin decisively and with finality. Hold nothing back. You will not have regret. You will be rewarded.