Grow Relational Roots III

‘Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!’ Ruth 1:17

The deeper your commitment, the deeper your roots. I know this is a very tough bone to swallow but this is the reality of life. It is easy to gloss over things and say all is well with every one. But we all need to face the reality of life. God has put you in that relationship. How does God want you to respond? God wants you to be committed at the appropriate level. Elisha had followed Elijah, he had given up everything to follow Elijah. Now God was about to take Elijah and everybody knew yet Elijah did not tell Elisha. Is that not enough to be angry about and end that relationship? And to make matters worse the sons of the prophet who were in the same school with Elisha would taunt him constantly saying ‘Have you heard, that God is going to take your master today’. If it were a lot of us we would have challenged Elijah. ‘How can you do such a thing and you say that you are a man of God. Let me just tell you how I feel, I am not happy at all’. I sometimes wonder if I would have done this or shown the level of commitment Elisha displayed. Many times we take on battles that are not in our league. Elisha said ‘as you live and as your soul lives I am following you’. Does this not remind you of Ruth? It was Elisha’s commitment to Elijah that sustained him in that relationship even when things were not necessarily going his way. And in the end, Elisha got the reward; his commitment led him to grow roots that he would never have grown outside that relationship. Elisha got a double portion of Elijah’s anointing. The bottom line is this, check what you are mouthing in a particular relationship then check what you are actually giving and see if they tally. If they don’t then you need to begin to make adjustments. ‘And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…’ Isa.29:13. Check what you are telling God and check if the things you say match up with your commitment to God. Truthfully answer the question – does it really tally?

Prayer: Father, I ask for a deeper understanding of commitment and how it applies to relational roots and the grace to be committed in my relationships, in Jesus Name