Keith Battle - Switch

I want to stop right there and use as a subject today «switch.» Yeah, «switch.» Switch! I feel like God gave me this word because there are a lot of people in the midst of a switch. Stuff is switching; it’s switching! I’ve got to make a switch. I’ve got to make a switch! Yeah, my offense is not scoring enough points. I’ve got to make a switch. My defense can’t stop the other team. I’ve got to make a switch. This job isn’t working for me anymore. I’ve got to make a switch. I’m not feeling comfortable in the situation I’m in right now. I’ve got to make a switch. I’m not losing weight the way I want to; I’ve got to make a switch. Yeah, I feel like there are people who understand what «switch» is about. Today is interesting. On my way here, I thought about the power of a switch. I got in my car on the way here to share this message with you, and when I got in my car, it was in the off position; the car wasn’t running, and therefore, it wasn’t moving. In order to get here, it had to run and move, and for it to move, it had to be running. To be running, I had to turn a switch. It’s an ignition switch. One switch got me here. One switch can get you somewhere. One switch can change the direction of your life! Even while I was driving the car, there were times when I had to back out of a certain space to go forward. I didn’t go forward the whole way here; I had to go in reverse sometimes. In order to change direction, I had to make a switch; I had to switch gears. One switch can change the direction of your life. Somebody say «switch!» Somebody in here is switching right now. You’re switching neighborhoods, and you’re switching jobs, and you’re switching schools, and you might even be switching churches. So you understand what it’s like to switch, and there’s power in a switch! I want to pray for you as we go into this word right now. Father, please speak to us in ways that are transforming. Feed us, challenge us, bless us. I give myself to you so that your truth might be communicated in a way that is helpful to people and serves their best interests. In Jesus' name, amen.

When you think of the word «switch,» by definition, it connotes change; it is usually a change that is opposite in nature. Switches are very powerful; they can change environments and contexts. For example, if I’m in a dark room, I can change the environment of the room if I find the switch. I can wake up a room with light, or I can make it prepared for rest by making it dark. I can change the entire mood of a room with one switch. One switch can change an environment; one switch can change a room. Many of you know what it’s like to switch. You switch hairstyles, and you switch barbers, and some of you switch cell phone providers, and you switch cable providers. You switch nail polish colors, and you switch neighborhoods, and you switch majors in college, and you switch lanes as you drive down the road. Here’s the thing about switches: they are necessary for progress and success. Sometimes switches are even necessary for safety. It’s true that sometimes, to avoid danger, to avoid toxicity, and to avoid trouble, you may have to switch your circle. You may have to move out; you may have to replace one group of friends with another group of peers who are aligned with the way you want to live now and who are moving in the direction you want to go. You may also share some of the interests you have now because that used to be what you were about. However, when you switched, it changed who you needed to be around. The reason I’m so glad that all of us can relate to switches, whatever they may be in our lives, is because this passage actually presents three switches that I want to discuss with you today. The first switch is in verse one, and the other two switches are in verse two. They are switches that are critical to our spiritual progress. By the way, these switches are not just for some of you listening to me today; they’re not just for some of us; they’re for all of us, myself included. Every single person listening to this message right now is in need of spiritual improvement. There is nobody who is perfect; there is nobody who has reached the pinnacle. No matter where you are on the spiritual totem pole, you need to make some kind of switch in your life to help you progress along your spiritual journey.

Paul starts off in verse one, and before I give you the first switch, I have to explain what’s happening in the passage. He opens by saying «therefore.» «Therefore» or «and so» — whatever you want to call it — opens the verse. What he’s doing is connecting what he’s about to say to everything he’s just said, not just what he said in chapter 11 but to everything he’s said. He’s about to ask the believers in Rome to make a switch in verse one based on «therefore,» based on everything he just told them about the mercies of God.