I’m a huge fan of Christine Caine’s daily emails, First Things First. I love waking up to a verse and quick word of encouragement before I face the morning cold. Today’s Scripture was Psalm 37:5-6, and the word “commit” jumped off the screen into my spirit.

Christine wrote, “There is power in commitment, and when you honor God in the place you are today, He’ll take you to where He has called you to be tomorrow.”

I love that! There really is power in committing to God and what He’s placed in our hands, to being faithful with what He’s put in our care.

I’m grateful for time carved out today (which I have scheduled in my phone as “Thoughtful Thursdays”) to dig a little deeper into commit, and I’m excited to share some of the inspiration I discovered.

First of all, the word for “commit” in Hebrew is galal, and it means “to roll, to roll off, to roll away; to transfer what is rolled away from oneself to another.”

I’m still chewing on this concept, but I had to get a visual.

Starting with Psalm 37:5, I was led to two other verses, all of which use that word commit (galal).

And so, here are three things we can commit to God:

1) Yourself

“Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.” – Psalm 22:8 (NASB)

Looking at other tranlastions show another perspective…

“He trusted and rolled himself on the Lord, that He would deliver him. Let Him deliver him, seeing that He delights in him!” – Psalm 22:8 (AMP)

Reading this verse in context, we see that David is writing prophetically about Jesus on the cross. What an example of ultimate commitment and trust between the Son and the Father; Jesus committed His life, His spirit, into the Father’s faithful hands (Luke 23:46).

We can follow in Jesus’ footsteps and commit ourselves to God because He is worthy of our commitment; He alone can rescue and deliver us. He delights in us!

2) Your way

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.” – Psalm 37:5-6 (NIV)

The Hebrew word for “way” is derek, meaning “a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action.”

When we commit our way – our path – to the Lord, we can trust that He will bring to pass what He has promised.

In his commentary on this verse, Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Roll the whole burden of life upon the Lord. Leave with Jehovah not thy present fretfulness merely, but all thy cares; in fact, submit the whole tenor of thy way to Him. Cast away anxiety, resign thy will, submit thy judgment, leave all with the God of all.”

Likewise, Matthew Henry said, “We must roll it off ourselves…”

3) Your works

“Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.” – Proverbs 16:3 (NASB)

In Hebrew, the word for “your works” is ma’aseh, and it means “an action; a transaction; an activity; a product; deed, work, thing done.”

We can commit everything we do to the Lord, and see our actions come into alignment with His master plan. When we partner with Him and join in His will, our plans are established.

I stumbled across this quote from C.S. Lewis in one of my kids’ books, and love the perspective it gives: “It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.”

Life can be so heavy. The weight of the world can crush us. We are called to commit ourselves, our way, and our works – to roll it on to the One who can handle it all. The One who delights to do it because He delights in us.

Back to our visual, I can’t help thinking about rolling a stone. The more you roll it, the more momentum you get. The easier it becomes to move. And the faster you can move forward. So don’t give up!

Keep rolling!