He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it:  Love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two things.”    Matthew 22:37-39 HCSB

There is a big difference between dating and marriage and most of us are well aware of this difference. Dating requires little if any, commitment. You can go on a date with one person on Friday and another on Saturday, or maybe even one lunch date and dinner date with two different people on the same day.

Most marriages don’t work that way. I say most because I have heard of people having what they call open marriages where each person just does their own thing.

But before this comes off as a discussion of good marriages vs. bad marriages or how to date in this day and age, I want you to understand that I am actually talking about your relationship with your Lord and Savior.

Salvation is like accepting Jesus’ proposal. In most cases, when a man proposes to a woman, he has already paid for a ring. He has already financially invested in this relationship. Jesus, likewise, has already paid the ultimate price for us. He gave His life. He died for you and me. He rose from the dead to conquer sin and death and He wants to give us eternal life in heaven with Him.

He never forces this on us, we can choose to accept or reject His proposal. The choice is ours. We often think of things like marriage, buying a home, and having children as some of the biggest choices we will ever make. They are big choices, but choosing whether or not to surrender our lives to Christ is the biggest choice we will ever make. These other choices may affect our life while we are here, but this life is temporary. It’s short-term.

Accepting Jesus and surrendering our life to Him will determine where we spend eternity. I must get you to understand that if you don’t accept Christ and surrender to Him, you are accepting the devil and his way of life. There is no in-between. When we reject Christ, we accept the devil.

So first you must decide this. Now let’s say that you have been very wise about this, and you have accepted Christ. Next, you must determine your level of commitment. I see plenty of people who are all in for Jesus one minute and living like the devil the next.

Jesus isn’t looking for people to date, he’s looking for people who are willing to commit to Him. He wants us to be all in. The danger of not being all in is that we may deceive ourselves into thinking that we are headed to heaven when we are not. We are told in Matthew 7:21 that many who believe they are going to heaven will not, but only those who do God’s will. God’s will is for us to surrender to Him.

Both following Jesus and a successful marriage require total commitment. Being committed means that when things don’t go as we had hoped or planned, we don’t give up. We keep on keeping on. We will make mistakes, but we repent and move on. We remain committed to Jesus Christ. We do things His way knowing that He is working all things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

I ask you today to examine your relationship with Him. Are you just dating Him occasionally or are you all in? Have you pledged your life to Him and promised to stick with Him and trust in Him and obey Him through the good and the bad?

Just like marriage life with Jesus won’t always be easy or even fun, but it will be worth it.

You must also remember that the devil wants you to commit to Him. James 4:7 says “Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” We must first submit to God to be able to resist the devil.

If you’ve been dating God, it’s time you take your relationship to the next level. Commit to Him and surrender your life to Him. Pledge to be true to Him through good times and bad. This is the biggest decision you will ever make. Trust in Him today.

Have a great day!