← The Wake-Up Call
The Wake-Up Call
Commitment vs. Consecration
00:22:18
Martha wanted Jesus to come to her home. Mary wanted Jesus.
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Sower Nation. It is Saturday, March 7th, in the year of our Lord 2026. I'm John David Walt, and this is your wake up call. And it's going to be a good Saturday today because we're going to be alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic. Right? I'm. I'm tempted even now. Let's go. Rise and shine and give God the glory glory Rise and shine and give God the glory glory Rise and shine and I hear you Give God the glory Glory Children of the Lord Got time for one more. Our God is an awesome God he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love Our God is an awesome God One more time. Our God Harmonize is an awesome God he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love Our God is an awesome God Amen. It's, you know, it's Saturday, so you can just do some extra things on Saturday. We're off to a good start. We're ready to pray. Consecration. We're ready to open up the doors, let the music play. Let Jesus come in and run the show Today. Got more on commitment and consecration. Let's begin though with that. Wake up sleeper. Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you. And we're praying in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Soar Nation said amen, y'. All. I've been in touch with Chris Tomlin. I talked about it yesterday. He's agreed we're going to write a song on consecration. So start praying for it. Okay. Consecration prayer song. Start praying for it. It's coming. Now. Our entry today is entitled Commitment versus Consecration. And our text is Luke, chapter 10, verses 41 and 42. This is coming out of the story, profound story of Mary and Martha and the great visit of Jesus to their house. Okay, Hear now the word of the Lord. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her. The word of the Lord. Now consider this. In this legendary story, which of course is true and not to be confused as a legend, we witness the difference between more commitment and deeper consecration. Let's dive into the story. I'm at Luke 10. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. Something we should notice about Jesus. Everywhere he goes, he's needed. And he's always glad to meet the needs of so many people. In this story, we see what he wants most. Though Jesus wants to be wanted, he's like us in this way. We're glad to go where we're needed. But what we really desire is to go where we are wanted. Jesus goes where he is wanted. Martha. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. Martha wanted Jesus to come to her home. Mary wanted Jesus. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. Martha was preparing her home. Mary was preparing her heart. Martha was distracted. Mary was devoted. She came to him and asked, lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. Martha is mad, but she doesn't know why she's mad at Jesus. You don't care, she says she's mad at Mary. My irresponsible sister couldn't care less. She's really mad at herself because her life is not working for her. She needs Jesus to fix it and he does. Martha. Martha. The Lord answered. He calls her name twice as if to say, I see you dear daughter. Then he goes in deeper way, past her distractions and into her true condition. You are worried and upset about many things. It's like he's saying, I know you were tired, weary and carrying heavy burdens. This is your way, your comfort zone. And it's not that you want out of it. You just want your sister to be in it with you. You are not comfortable with the fact that your sister has left the comfort zone and the predictable place of busyness and over functioning and the easy distractibility of trying to please others, to make everyone happy, to check the boxes so others will accept and approve her. Martha instructs Jesus to tell Mary to come to her side. Jesus invites Martha to come to Mary's side. But few things are needed Martha, or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her. Martha was committed. Mary was consecrated. This is the only necessary thing. The prayer. Our Father, how we thank you for your son Jesus and Lord Jesus. We confess so often, maybe even right now, for so many of us, we are worried and upset about many things. We want to learn the way to the only necessary thing. Living a consecrated life of belonging to you. Holy Spirit, would you awaken and lead us in this way? We receive it as we're praying in Jesus name. Amen. All right, journal prompts today. Hope you're journaling. I hope that you're putting at least as many words in your little Jesus asking book as I've put in it. Because you know what? Your word, your words are better than my words. Here's a couple of questions. Are you seeing the difference between being more committed and being more deeply consecrated? What is the difference? I wonder how you're thinking about that. You know, everybody wants to look at this story and, oh, they just want to come alongside and say, martha's not that bad. And I'm like, you know what? You're exactly right. Martha's not bad at all. She's just broken. We all are. And oftentimes we're trying to overcome our brokenness by just trying to paper over it with our busyness. It's true. And sometimes we just need to just really. I say sometimes, all the time. We need to let the Lord break into our brokenness and just call it out, call it up, call it for what it is. Just become real before him. Just say, you know what, Jesus, you're right, I am mad. What did he say to her? You are worried and upset about many things. I mean, you're carrying a lot of things. It'd be good today in, in your journal. Just write this question. We, we. We went over this question at our pastor's retreat recently. What are you carrying? Three questions. We. Rich Velotas. You ought to listen to the conversation Rich and I had. It's on the YouTube channel. It's probably on the podcast ch. Wake up call Conversations. Rich said, what are you carrying? And, I mean, people just started just writing it down. We're carrying a lot. We're worried and upset about many things. That leads us to get mad, too. Second question. He said, what does your soul need? Third question. What images or, or stories or words from scripture just kind of are landing on you in the midst of that? We got a good one today, Martha. And, and let's, let's just, let's just get away from this notion. Well, you know, there's, there's Martha's and there's Mary's. No, Mary had her problems, too. This is not about. Well, there's doers and there's beers. No, that's not it. This is not about being a contemplative person versus being an activist person. Not. It can't go there. This is about being. This is about breaking free from the bondage of becoming more committed and more committed. Breaking free from that Striving, that bondage to striving and breaking into becoming more deeply consecrated, which is a very. I mean, it's a simple thing. It can be hard to get there. You, first off, got to kind of maybe sometimes realize, what am I carrying? I know it can be a lot. I get it. Jesus gets it. And when you can just sort of just pivot, go over and sit by Mary on the floor at the feet of Jesus, You'll realize he'll take those burdens, he'll take them off your hands, and he'll teach you a new way of being that'll lead to extraordinary living. The consecrated life becomes the transformed life, becomes the demonstrative life of amazing grace in the world. Just flow out of you into others. You know this. You've seen it. All right, you ready to sing? We got a good one today. Dad's with me. All right, gang, it's Saturday, and you know what that means. We're gonna sing a hymn today. We sang one on Friday, didn't we? And we're going to sing. Dad, tell them what we're singing today.
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We're going to sing He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought.
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And what's our number?
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The number 73 in this particular book.
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Tell them what the name of the book is.
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The Great Redeemer's Praise. Our Great Redeemer's Praise.
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That is also known as our seed bed hymnal. And this is a good one. He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought. And we're going to claim. We're going to claim faith as we sing it. That. As we sing it, he's doing it. And today, you know, in our entry, we talked about, in Jesus asking the difference in consecration and commitment. And that's. This song kind of helps flip the script. You know, it's. It's. It's tempting for us to just try to get more committed and try harder. And the message of God is like, no, don't try harder. Surrender. Give yourself to me. Let me come in and lead you. You don't have to make it happen. And we tend to want to be a make it happen kind of people.
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Well, we want his way anyway.
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That's what we want. We want to be led by God. And the beautiful thing is God. God wants to lead us.
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And so we just got to let him.
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We just have to let him and have to follow.
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We can do that.
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You remember what Jesus come along to those fishermen and they were cleaning their nets. Remember what he said to them? He said two words, Follow me. He didn't Say, I need you to go be leaders. He said, I actually need you to become followers. So he leadeth me number 73. We're going to sing all four verses. He leadeth me O blessed thought O
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works with heavenly comfort Fraught whate' er I do Wherever I be still Tis God's hand that leadeth me he leadeth me he leadeth me by his own hand he leadeth me his faithful follower I would be for by his hand he leadeth me Sometimes it seems the deepest bloom Sometimes We're Eden's bowers bloom by water still our trouble see still Tis God's hand that leadeth me he leadeth me he leadeth me by his own hand if I were to all as I would be for by his hand he leadeth me Lord, I would place my hand in Thine now ever murmur Rem content whatever lot I see Since Tis my God that leadeth me he leadeth me he leadeth me by his own hand he leadeth me his faithful follower I would be for by his hand he leadeth me Last verse. And when my task on earth is done when by Thy grace the victory's won Even disco wave I will not flee says God through joy and leadeth me he leadeth me he lead us me by his own hand he leadeth me his faithful follower I would be poor by his hand he does me
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Amen. That's a.
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But we got to follow.
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Yep.
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He. He'll lead us, but it's up to us to follow we.
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That's why I guess it was maybe yesterday or the day before we sang. Open my eyes that I may see Open my ears that I may hear Open my mouth It's. It's getting. You know, this. I'm trying to make the point in these wake up calls this week that it just doesn't start with us. It doesn't start with our commitment, doesn't start with our can do. It starts with his leadership, his initiative. We are not the leaders here. We're the followers.
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But we got to listen to him.
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We got to listen. That's what he said to us on the Mount of Transfiguration. He said, this is my son, whom I love. Three words. Listen to my son. To him. Listen to him. And it seems easy. But there's a lot in us that I don't know. We think we know better. We think we know how to do it. We got this figured out. Well, good news, we don't.
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We're stubborn,
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so. All right, it's time. Guys, it's time to go out now and be led into the fields. And it's Saturday, and there's going to be a lot of people out there that you're going to come across, you may not see during the week. Be ready to encourage them. Be ready, first off, just to notice them, to see them, speak to them, speak to them, approach them. And just be conscious that Jesus is moving with you, in you, leading you. You're following.
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Amen.
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All right. Well, for The Awakening, I'm J.D. walt.
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And I'm David Walt.
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And we'll see you on the.
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Sam.