Commitment by Rebecca Seaton

Commitment. My dictionary says to commit is to ‘promise or engage, especially oneself, for some undertaking’ or to ‘dedicate oneself to a cause etc. from a sense of conviction’.

In the Bible, it is clear that we should be committed to God, as He is to us. The sense of conviction is also important. Although there are plenty of examples, especially in the Old Testament, of people dedicated to God by others, like Joshua, Samuel and Samson, today’s believer is called to choose God out of their own conviction. As it says in Joshua 24:15, ‘Choose this day Whom you will serve’. The benefits of this are also clearly stated.

Most of us would also consider we have made a commitment to our writing. Often, ACW is a big part of this. It looks different to different people – for some it’s a dedication to achieve a particular word count, for others it’s to cross off chapters and plan particular sections. It can even be about our commitment to events or other writers. Like our commitment to God, this is usually because we both feel a deep-rooted conviction and experience the benefits.

Why then, is commitment sometimes so hard? We believe we should be committed to something or someone, we say we are…but then something else comes up, the word count gets interrupted and somehow never recovers, we mean to ring that person, but…

We are easily distracted by events – and often rightly so. It’s a poor Christian who leaves their neighbour bleeding in the street to go to a Sunday meeting after all! But often we can grow out of habits until we’ve forgotten what our intention was in the first place.

The good news is, God is ready for this. Several times in the Bible, He makes new covenants to re-establish His purpose for a people who have lost their way. He also uses people to help Him. Moses frequently reminded people of God’s commitment to them and what their response should be. It’s no accident that many people become healthier as a result of joining groups designed to help them lose weight/quit smoking etc, as the group accountability and joint commitment helps lots of people. Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us that meeting together helps us to ‘spur one another on towards love and good deeds’. God calls us to be part of a body. If you believe God is calling you to commit to something afresh, be it reading His word, building a relationship or giving input in your writers’ group, ask someone to help you.

Decide where your conviction is, tell God and tell a friend. The blockbuster novel might finally get finished, but more importantly, you’ve committed something to God and He never fails us.

Rebecca Seaton published her first novel, A Silent Song, last year and is currently working on her next book. She manages a behaviour recovery provision for primary children and is on the advisory panel for Pen to Print, a Barking and Dagenham-based initiative for supporting emerging writers.  

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