Straight Thinking 101567 Committed to Christ
Straight Thinking
101567
COMMITTED TO CHRIST
Sunday. You committed yourself and your life to Christ by obeying God’s plan of salvation to the extent of being baptized. You must not submit to the temptation of the teen years when the lure of sins is especially strong. If you forsake the love you had for Christ at the first, you relinquish the hope you have through him in the end. (Read Revelation 2:4, 5, 7.)
Monday. “I can’t; I must.” We go to school several hours a day; then we practice football, basketball, track, or baseball; we are in class plays, band, and chorus; we attend all the school functions; we study many hours a week at home; are we keeping your commitment to Christ? Too many good things are not good if they crowd out Christ. We would be refusing Christ if we say no to his servants. (Read Matthew 13:7, 22.)
Tuesday. Young people often have someone they want to be like. It is good to have a good goal; too often the idols of teenagers may not be good. Let Jesus be our example as we grow intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially. He is not an image set in stone; he is an ideal for life. So we commit ourselves to being like him. (Read Luke 2:42, 52.)
Wednesday. By the time we reach our sophomore year, we begin developing ideas about our future occupation. We should also decide early that whatever we do we will fit it into the purposes of Christ. Tomorrow’s only witnesses will be those of us who commit our lives to him today. (Read Colossians 3:17.)
Thursday. Popularity is a popular pursuit among teenagers. But since our schoolmates do not always prefer what fits with our Christian commitment, we cannot expect to be pleasing both to them and to Christ all the time. We can have “favor with God and people” but not necessarily with God and all people. It is better to have genuine popularity with a few. (Read James 4:4.)
Friday. Have you ever helped win someone to Christ? Have you ever tried? If we are firmly committed to what he stands for, we will be concerned that our friends believe the important things we believe. Transform other people’s practices rather than conform to theirs. (Read Romans 12:2.)
Saturday. One life—just one chance to amount to something. A lasting Christian influence is our best gift to our friends, and so it is the most satisfying possession of our own. Combine your vocation and your commitment to him by being an effective witness in whatever profession you choose. (Read Matthew 16:25-26.)
Virgil Warren, Straight, October 15, 1967, p13 christir.org