Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Are You Committed? | Historical Books | 1 Samuel 20:24-42

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

Have you made commitments out of fear? What does loyalty look like? Are you loyal to Jesus? In today's episode, Tanya shares how 1 Samuel 20:24-42 reminds us of the most important commitment in our lives. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Samuel 20:24-42

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. So today we're going to talk about the word commitment. And first of all, I just wonder, what does the word commitment mean to you? I have a feeling for all of us that the answer to that might be shaped by something that your family taught you, the way that you were raised. It might be shaped by an experience that you've had where you've had to keep a commitment or maybe when you didn't. Can you remember a time when you made a commitment and your parents made you keep you?

it even when you didn't want to. What do you think they were trying to teach you? What was behind that? I've kept commitments longer than I wanted to sometimes, simply because I had made them, but I've also failed to keep commitments. I've made excuses and I've gotten out of them. I've experienced both sides of this. There was a time when Braden was little, and he was playing summer baseball. And his coach asked the team at the end of the season, which was very hot, if I remember correctly, if they wanted to extend into the fall and keep playing, And so we asked Brayden, hey, do you want to keep playing? And he said, no. But we were first-time parents, not that that's an excuse, but we were afraid that if Brayden sat out, that when Spring came around the next time, he would lose his spot on the team. So out of fear, we talked him into playing for the fall season. It wasn't long into that that Braden got hit by a pitch and he broke his arm. And suddenly, we weren't just taking him to games that he didn't want to play. We were taking him to games he couldn't even play. and we didn't even want to watch, but we felt stuck.

We'd made a commitment to this team. I'm not entirely sure what Braden took from that season. I should probably ask him. Actually, he probably remembers that we send them to school for two days with a broken arm. But I will tell you, here's what Eric and I learned. First, don't make commitments out of fear or insecurity. And two, Braden doesn't want to play baseball. Now, we've just come through the season of Blent.

And this is a time that people make commitments. And they make commitments to honor the Lord's sacrifice and just to remember the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us. And it's a great commitment to make, right? But it's always interesting to see how those commitments go, isn't it? So some of the things I've seen this year, people give up TB, soda, dessert, social media, all good things. But sometimes there's also copyouts, right? Like, TV doesn't count if it's for school.

Soda doesn't count on vacation. dessert doesn't count if it's for breakfast, and social media doesn't count if you just check it, but you don't post. A relationship with commitment is complicated. And really, when we think about commitment, we're faced with how imperfect we really are. We're faced with reality of how much we need a savior. That realization brings us to the story of Jonathan and David. These were two friends who remain committed to each other, even when everything around them suggested, that they shouldn't. Jonathan was the son of King Saul, Israel's first king, and David was the anointed future king.

So, of course, there was tension. You have to wonder, did Jonathan ever think about stepping away from his friendship with David? Because if David lived and became king, Jonathan and his family would lose everything. In ancient times when a new dynasty rose to power. The male descendants of the old one were often killed to prevent any future challenges to the throne. Jonathan didn't initially believe his father really wanted to kill David. But that changed pretty quickly, when Saul nearly killed Jonathan in anger over his loyalty to David. On the other hand, David's loyalty to Jonathan was also tested.

Still, they remained committed to one another and their relationship. David promised to care for Jonathan's descendants, and Jonathan helped David escape Saul. Their commitment wasn't perfect, but it was faithful. Before they parted ways Jonathan said to David in 1st Samuel chapter 20 verse 42, Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord saying, The Lord is witness between you and me and between your descendants and my descendants forever. Jonathan made a difficult decision to honor God's word in David's life, God's word in all of their lives, even though it meant walking away from his own claim to the throne,

and it walking away from his earthly identity. Jonathan must have understood that God was bringing in something new and that the old kingdom was passing away. Jonathan's loyalty reminds us of the kind of commitment that Jesus asks of his followers, where we believe that the old is passing away and Jesus' kingdom is coming. Jesus says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple. This isn't about rejecting our families. It's about recognizing that our commitment to the

anointed king comes before everything else. And if we're honest, our commitment to Jesus is not consistent, let alone perfect. Prayer, scripture, worship, these are easy to set decide when life gets full. Committing to love Jesus more than everything else that we can do or gain. Well, those are also such hard things to do. Our own interests, our routines, our ones and our desires often take priority. The good news is it's not our efforts that holds this relationship together. It is Jesus' commitment to us. Jesus followed the Father's will completely, all the way to the cross. His commitment makes our relationship with God secure, now and forever. Jesus' love is the only love that never fails.

Romans 8, 38, and 39 says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. What does this kind of love? This kind of committed, perfect love of Jesus Christ mean for your life. How does that reshape the way you treat your own commitments?

And how can you reflect, even in an imperfect way, Jesus' faithful love in your relationships, in your ministry, and in the way you live? What if Jesus' perfect love and commitment to us flipped our thoughts? what if it allowed us to think about the commitments we make or have made like this? It's not about staying the course because I have to. It's not about pleasing others. It's not about disappointing others. But it is about sticking with this relationship or with this job set before me because I can.

Because I want to honor Jesus. Because this is one way to be part of Jesus. Jesus kingdom and not my own. Lord, we often walk in and out of our commitments. We forget what it means that you have bound yourself to us forever through love. Help us not to take that lightly. Let your sacrifice shape our hearts and make us steady. May your faithfulness form the foundation of how we love, how we serve, and how we show up in the lives of others. Help us root our lives in your love that never fails. Amen. Thank you.