By the grace of God, we are in the third part of our series called “Obeisance.” We started with “TAKE IT OFF,” “IF YOU DO WELL,” and what we shall be talking about today is “The Pledged Allegiance.”

What is allegiance? It is the loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause. And from the perspective of working for a government, top-secret offices require you to pledge your allegiance before some access can be granted to you.

Also, if you want to become a citizen of a particular nation, they ask you to pledge your allegiance. In other words, swear an oath that you will not betray your country.

And in the military world, you also pledge your allegiance to fight for the republic and the republic alone, and even though some break their oath in the course, we also know that others did not take their course lightly, and they will not hesitate to die in their course because of their pledged allegiance.

And in the case of the faithful and loyal servant we are going to use for our sermon today, a man called Uriah. We will know what it meant to be a man of honor and integrity. Who is Uriah? Uriah is a faithful soldier whom the Lord acknowledged for his faithfulness and his commitment to the cause of Israel.

A man who will not let the enjoyment of the bed, the opportunity to escape from war, the gift of the palace wine and food deprive him of his allegiance. A man who will not let familiarity make him forget his calling. A man who will not let tiredness and weariness make him forget his purpose.

Uriah gives us the real meaning of obeisance because of his unwavering loyalty to the God of Israel and also to the king and also to his commander. An opportunity everyone would see today as a way of escape was what Uriah saw as a burden, and what is this telling us, beloved?

As children of God, there is an allegiance to which we have pledged our life, our soul, our body, and all that makes us who we are, which we cannot break because breaking it would be detrimental to our souls.

And what am I saying here? Since we have given our lives to Jesus to take us over, we have automatically submitted ourselves as soldiers with pledged allegiance to serve, soldiers who make the cause of the kingdom a priority.

Hence the reason we cannot but understand why we are here. We cannot but take our calling and purposes seriously. We cannot but know that we must work during the day because the night will come when no man would be able to work.

So taking note of all these is our obeisance to the One who has called us from darkness to His marvelous light. For there is a calling that must not be ignored, which I believe we all adhered to from the first day we gave our lives to Christ, and the expectation is that nothing and nothing must make us leave the battle front as we wrestle against principalities and powers for the transformation of souls to God’s kingdom every single day.

Because some today have left their position due to the gift of food, the gift of intimacy in bed, the gift of money, the gift of cowardice, the gift of pride, which made them forget their pledge of allegiance.

So the question here this morning is, what is that thing that is making us forget who we are in Christ? What are we seeing as a genuine excuse to leave our position for enjoyment and the like?

Who is represented as King David who asks us to leave our position because of their own selfish gain and not what God desires? Because the thing is, sometimes those who have authority over us can also be the reason why we left our position because of their own selfish interest, but the expectation is for us to have the pledge of allegiance like Uriah.

Who will not allow the gift of food, the gift of wine, the comfort of his bed, and the intimacy with his wife make him forget what he stood for, what allegiance he pledged to.

Beloved, to be obedient means to pledge your allegiance. In other words, you are saying that nothing will make you abandon God. Nothing will make you remove your eyes from Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Nothing will make you forget why you are here.

Uriah said to David in verse 11, “The Ark (meaning God, to whom I pledged my allegiance), and Israel (meaning the country I also pledged my allegiance to), and my lord Joab (my commander), and also the servants of my lord (meaning my colleagues) are encamped in the open fields, and you want me to go and be eating and drinking and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” That is obeisance right there. That is a pledge of allegiance right there.

Beloved, let us know this today, that our personal comfort must be secondary to our spiritual responsibility because there is a sense of duty, commitment, integrity, and solidarity expected of us. Hence the reason our loyalty and righteousness must be implicitly commended everywhere we find ourselves.

God has called us into His kingdom, and just like Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7, we must also fight the good fight to finish the race, to keep the faith, because there is a reward for those who wait till the end. The Bible says those who endure to the end shall be saved.

Our pledged allegiance that says, “I’ve given my life to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” is our obeisance to our Maker, and nothing must stop us from becoming faithful to the end.

Romans 8:35 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

And that is the question we must ask ourselves as we’ve pledged our allegiance to Christ. Nothing good or bad must separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing must separate us from the course. We must show our obeisance till Jesus comes. No temptation, no evil, no devil, no sweet talks, no anger, no hatred, no shame or disgrace must make us compromise.

Prayer Point: Lord, I will not compromise on this journey. My allegiance will not be compromised in Jesus’ name. Amen!