COMMITMENT ATTRACTS FAVOR,

SUCCESS AND EXTRAVAGANT

HARVEST

4 Take delight in the LORD, and he

will give you your heart’s desires. 5 Commit everything you do to

the LORD. Trust him, and he will

help you.

1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s

faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he

replied. “Here I am.” 2 “Take your son, your

only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so

much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and

sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of

the mountains, which I will show you.”

3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his

servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the

place in the distance.

5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” 6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s

shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on

together,

7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8 “God will provide a sheep for

the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on

together.

15 Then the angel of the LORD called

again to Abraham from heaven. 16 “This

is what the LORD says: Because you have

obeyed me and have not withheld even

your son, your only son, I swear by my

own name that

17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the

stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of

their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed

me.”

8 Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across

to the Israelites. “Why are you all

coming out to fight?” he called. “I am

the Philistine champion, but you are

only the servants of Saul. Choose one

man to come down here and fight me!

9 If he kills me, then we will be your

slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our

slaves! 10 I defy the armies of Israel

today! Send me a man who will fight

me!” 11 When Saul and the Israelites

heard this, they were terrified and

deeply shaken.

32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,”

David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”

33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied.

“There’s no way you can fight this

Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a

boy, and he’s been a man of war since his

youth.”

34 But David persisted. “I have been taking

care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he

said. “When a lion or a bear comes to

steal a lamb from the flock,35 I go after it

with a club and rescue the lamb from its

mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it

by the jaw and club it to death.

36 I have done this to both

lions and bears, and I’ll do it

to this pagan Philistine, too,

for he has defied the armies

of the living God!

37 The LORD who rescued me from the

claws of the lion and the bear will

rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul

finally consented. “All right, go

ahead,” he said. “And may

the LORD be with you!”

48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David

quickly ran out to meet him.49 Reaching into

his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone,

he hurled it with his sling and hit the

Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank

in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face

down on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine

with only a sling and a stone, for he had

no sword. 51 Then David ran over and

pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath.

David used it to kill him and cut off his

head. When the Philistines saw that their

champion was dead, they turned and ran.

The eyes of the LORD search the whole

earth in order to strengthen those

whose hearts are fully committed to

him.

A. Commitment always precedes achievement.

- Some people want everything to be perfect

before they are willing to commit themselves to

anything.

B. Heart is what separates the good from the

great.

A. It’s one thing to talk about

commitment.

- It’s another to do something about it.

A. Commitment is the enemy of resistance, for

it is the serious promise to press on, to get

up, no matter how many times you were

knocked down.

1. Cop-outs – People, who have no goals and do

not commit.

2. Hold-outs – People who do not know if they can

reach their goals, so they are afraid to commit.

3. Drop-outs – people who start toward a goal

and quit when the going gets rough.

4. All-outs – people who set goals, commit to

them, and pay the price to reach them.

A. Measure your commitment and evaluate it.

1. Sometimes you think you are committed to

something, yet your actions indicate otherwise.

2. Spend a few hours tallying up how you spend

your time and money.

B. Know what’s worth dying for.

1. Ask yourself, “what am I willing to

die for?”

C. Make your plans public and you

might be more committed to

following through with them.