A chicken and a pig came across a church building and read the advertised sermon on the billboard out front, which read, “What can we do to help the poor?” Immediately the chicken suggested they feed them bacon and eggs. The pig thought for a moment and said, “There is only one thing wrong with your plan. It only requires a contribution from you, it
requires everything from me!”

Our commitment to God should be, strangely enough, more like the pig’s than the chicken’s.  I know it seems like a big commitment; but that’s only because it is!  Giving ourselves to God as a living sacrifice is giving everything to him.  It’s not always easy but it’s always worth it.

In the 1976 Summer Olympics, Shun Fujimoto competed in the team gymnastics competition for Japan. In a quest for the gold medal, Fujimoto suffered a broken right knee in the floor exercise. But this injury did not stop him, for during the next week he competed in his strongest event, the rings. His routine was excellent, but he astounded everyone by squarely dismounting with a triple somersault twist on a broken right knee. When asked concerning his feat, he said, “Yes, the pain shot through me like a knife. It brought tears to my eyes. But now I have the gold medal and the pain is gone.”

Fujimoto-san was committed to winning the prize.  Even when it was painful.  Are we committed to God?  Even when it’s painful and expensive?

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”