Dear Family and Friends,

Have you heard that old saying, like father like son? Well, it’s not always true. 

I have fond memories of my childhood home tucked away in the back of Palolo Valley. Our home was surrounded by fruit trees, vegetable gardens and flowering plants of all sorts, all planted by my father.

My mother, who was a longtime student of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, never had to buy flowers. She simply asked dad to trim his plants. My dad had a green thumb. Everything he touched grew. 

As for me, there is no doubt that I have not one but two black thumbs. It bothered me for years. I could not understand why every living plant that touched my hands – stopped living.

Then one day the reason for his success came to me. My dad was dedicated to his craft as evidenced by the countless hours spent caring for his yard every single day. 

As for me, I will embarrass myself no further and simply say there is truth to the idiom – you reap what you sow. 

Which by the way comes from Galatians 6:8 ESV, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Moving on, I recently read an article about a LA Rams’ lineman who was back in the weight room the day after their Super Bowl victory parade. 

He too is dedicated, and understands the notion that every day counts and is not to be wasted. 

I will share one more example of a dedicated man. 

A man who began His ministry with these words. “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4:17‬ NLT

And ended His ministry with these words, “It is finished!” ‭‭John‬ ‭19:30‬ NIV

His name is Jesus. And we all know He accomplished what He set out to do. He established the Kingdom of God here on earth.

You probably guessed by now that our word for today is dedication. It’s a word that’s easier to say than to do. It’s a word that’s sometimes escapes us, especially when it comes to following Jesus. 

Did you know that one of the most challenging tasks for a pastor is getting folks to dedicate themselves to following Jesus Christ?

The ultimate goal of most, if not all, sermons is to move folks towards doing so. 

Pastors try every means possible to motivate believers to become followers. 

They try to entice folks with the many blessings that comes with following Jesus. 

They try warning folks of the ills that come from not doing so. 

And every once in awhile, they even try scaring folks – hell is hot!

We know that spiritual strength is not built in the weight room but by God’s word. That reading and understanding God’s word is foundational to being followers of Jesus. That the path to our hearts passes through our minds. 

We have listened to sermons encouraging us to dedicate a portion of every day to receiving God’s word, by reading the Bible and meeting with friends to discuss life and scripture. 

Maybe we even heard a pastor suggest listening to podcasts, or checking out videos on RightNow Media, or reading Christian books.

And this we know. That receiving God’s word daily in any form will grow our faith multiple times faster than if we just went to or watched church on the weekend. 

To do this – to follow Jesus daily and doing what God asks of us – requires dedication.

Those who know me well know I can get pretty persistent. Hard head, my mother often called me.

That said, I will try, in these weeks leading up to Good Friday, to motivate all of us to sow to the Holy Spirit, to truly dedicate our lives, our time, and our actions, to following Jesus.  

We close today with the three times Jesus told His disciples what was to come of Him.

“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Mark 8:31 ESV

“As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” Matthew 17:22 ESV

“And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” Luke 18:31-33 ESV

Dear friends, let’s reflect on how Jesus felt in the weeks leading up to Passover. Begin to feel the weight of what He was asked to do.

Then remember that you have life because He gave up His.

In love always,