The definition of obligate is to bind or compel someone, especially legally or morally. With that definition what are you obligated to do? We are all obligated to someone or something. I’m obligated to my husband to be a good wife. I’m obligated to my church to be a good member. I am obligated to family members, to help and support all I can. However, those are not the most important obligations I have. My first, and most important, obligation is to God. As a Christian, I am obligated to obey His commands. I am obligated to serve out of a deep sense of gratitude.
In Romans 1:14, Paul says he is a debtor. He was not saying the Greeks, the Barbarians, or any other people group had done anything for him that put him in debt to them. He was in debt, or obligated, to the Lord. This obligation was spun out of a deep sense of gratitude to the Lord for saving him. He knew God had called him to a higher calling than just the mundane day-to-day efforts of living. He felt an obligation to all cultures and all classes of people to share the gospel.
Romans 1:14 “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.”
What was the source of his obligation? It came from God’s grace to him. Paul had been one of the persecutors of the church. He was not just a voice of contention to the New Testament church, he was zealous. He was the one holding the cloaks when Stephen was stoned. This Saul in Acts 7:58 is Paul. How the sound of Stephens’ voice must still ring in his ears, as he remembers Stephen calling out to the Lord to receive his spirit, and not to hold this sin of murder against those involved.
Acts 7:58-60 “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Paul understood the grace that had been extended to him. He saw himself as he was, and he never got over the forgiveness that Jesus made possible for him. His sense of obligation propelled him to get out of his comfort zone and do all he could to tell others about Jesus. For Paul, there were no barriers of race, position, education, or financial status, that could keep him from sharing what Jesus had done for him. No prison, no sickness, no threats could change his mind. In his soul, he felt obligated to go until the day he died. He had a clear picture of grace.
How about you? How obligated or indebted do you feel to Christ? Is there a longing to do all you can for him? What about opportunities to serve or witness? Do you see the obstacles that stand in your way as excuses, or do you see them as challenges to overcome and push forward? What does it take to keep you from going on an outreach to tell others about Christ? I made the commitment a long time ago, that the things of Christ would come first. If I was able to go to work, then I was able to be in church or be involved in outreach. If I found childcare for shopping, I could find childcare for service to the Lord. How many times do we use the blessings of God as an excuse not to serve? Where is your sense of obligation to the Lord for all He has done for you?
