Knowing clearly you are Christian nurses calledupon by God, well-prepared in God’s words and the professionalpractice of nursing, are you willing to commityourselves fully to follow God?

When we believe in Jesus Christ, He is not only ourSavior, but also God of our lives; believing in Him to influenceothers through our lives is the commitment. Arewe willing to become His disciples and not only believers?It all depends on whether you and I are committedto the action of following the Lord.

 

Juvenile Judge Who PreferredPossession

 

Three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, haveall recorded the story of a wealthy juvenile judge, whohumbly kneeled before Jesus, asking how he can inheriteternal life. Even though he grew up following the lawsvery strictly and appeared to be a talented young manwith great virtue and wealth, he was not so certain abouteternal life. The Bible states, “Jesus looked at him andloved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everythingyou have and give to the poor, and you will havetreasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this theman’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had greatwealth.” Unexpectedly, the desirable young man chosepossession over the pursuit of eternal life; the reason whyhe was unwilling to put down the commitment to followGod was that he owned too much. Thus, fortune was thegod in his life and it also became his stumbling block tocommitment. In this case, commitment was more thanputting into action to follow God, it was also paying aprice to be his disciple.

Today, God is also calling out to us Christian nurses,asking us to serve Him with our nursing profession.Are we committed to follow God? Have we put the sovereigntyof our lives in His hands, let Him put us to gooduse? I hope that you and I will not give up the pursuit ofeternal life over that of earning a diploma, love, fortuneor fame, and ultimately become a depressed nursing staffmember in the workplace.

 

Ruth Determined to Follow God

 

In the Book of Ruth from the Old Testament, thereis a beautiful story about commitment. Ruth was “determined”to company Naomi back to Judah instead of stayingbehind, and was even willing to spend her remainingyears in a foreign land to take care of her mother-inlaw.The Bible records in full the commitment Ruth hadtowards Naomi. “’Don’t urge me to leave you or to turnback from you. Where you go I will go, and where youstay I will stay. Your people will be my people and yourGod my God. When you die I will die, and there I willbe buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever soseverely, if anything but death separates you and me.’

 

Commitment

 

When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to gowith her, she stopped urging her.” (Ruth 1:16-18). Fromthis verse, we can see that Ruth not only decided to followher mother-in-law, Naomi, but was also fully committedto Naomi and willing to put that commitment intoaction. In fact, Ruth was really committed to the LordJesus Christ in whom her mother-in-law had believedall her life. Moreover, her commitment was based on“love” that she selflessly entrusted to Naomi. In the end,we know that God blessed Ruth by giving this foreignwoman a part in God’s plan of salvation, and listed hername in the genealogy of Jesus. What a great vessel forGod’s blessing!

Today, for us Christian nurses, we should first commitourselves to our profession and then to our patients.Are we, like Naomi and Ruth, testifying for God with ourown lives? Are we becoming a vessel for God at work tocall upon people? We should pledge our love to ensurea sense of responsibility to the commitment, and applyloyalty and diligence to our tasks. Only by such a commitmentto our profession can we bring quality nursingcare to others and serve as role models.

 

Choice Laid Upon by God to You and I

 

One may ask, “How exactly can we benefit fromour commitment?” Just as Peter asked God years ago,“We have left everything to follow you! What then willthere be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Everyone whohas left houses or brothers or sisters or father or motheror children or fields for my sake will receive a hundredtimes as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew19:27, 29) However, back then God told those whowanted to follow Him as His disciples, “If anyone wouldcome after me, he must deny himself and take up hiscross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) They were fullycommitted to God’s will to finish the plan of salvation,

and they left us a great example of commitment. In thisworld, no one but Jesus Christ was qualified enough tobring upon us this challenge. However, the only Godwho is worthy of our full commitment gave you and methe choice to commit ourselves.For those who have committed themselves wholeheartedly,they experience immense joy from believingHim and loving Him, and is a clear indication that He iswith them in His grace and is providing them with hopeof eternal glory. Receiving such a reward from followingGod, is it not worthy to commit our whole lives to Him?

 

Calling of the Thirtieth Anniversary

 

At the thirtieth anniversary of NEF, it is time forfellow members to reflect and perform self-examinationin front of God. We should ask ourselves, has the relationshipbetween God and I stopped merely at the stepof being a follower? Or have we committed to Him asHis disciples? Since we are clear about being called to beChristian nurses, well-equipped in God’s words and thenursing profession, are we willing to fully and completelycommit ourselves to follow Him? I hope that a busylife does not become an excuse or justification for fallingshort of complete commitment, because nursing itself isa wonderful tool for evangelization.

I hope there will be a number of Christian nurseswho are willing to fully commit to NEF’s vision and mission,using our work place to preach and share the advantagesof the gospel with colleagues. In addition, who arewilling to unreservedly commit themselves to God, andgive themselves up fully to Him to allow Him to influenceothers through our lives? Only through such commitmentand service can we bring Jesus Christ into thenursing profession, and allow Jesus to bless everyone. Ipray that every NEF member can reply to God with Peter’sdeclaration, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You havethe words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)