“I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.”   – II Corinthians 8:8

There is something within you that is full of sincere love, something that desires to give of yourself completely to God and others. It is that new nature imparted by Jesus to you in conversion that pants for God and longs for His love to flow through you.

One of the easiest ways to create resistance is to push people to do what they don’t want to do. The Apostle Paul understood this. His method was not to badger but to help people to find that part of themselves that wanted to do what God wanted them to do. It was that part of the Corinthian Christians to whom he appealed regarding the offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem. It is that part of ourselves to whom we must appeal as we flip the dial of our lives from the flesh to our new nature in Christ.

Real commitment cannot be coerced or manipulated. It must flow from a heart of love. It was love that compelled our Lord to take up His cross and it is love that draws us to the cross and prompts us to take up the cross and follow Him. Much has been said about sacrifice and giving.

It is God's unspeakable gift in Jesus that paints the eternal masterpiece of loving sacrifice. Love and sacrifice sanctify commitment and communion. Sometime in the near future, you will partake of the Lord’s Supper.

We come to the Lord's table because His love led Him to offer His body and blood as a sacrifice for our sin that we might be saved and might have the opportunity to commit our lives to something significant and eternal. In a dark world, it is His life being expressed through our lives in sacrificial love and commitment that will light the way for others to find significance and hope.

Come to the table of grace daily with sincerity and joy but also with reverence as you remember Him and prepare to worship.