Abandoned

 Are we living abandoned? That was the subject of an Oswald Chambers' devotion I read this morning. Before we can answer that question we might need to define the word abandoned. It means to be uninhibited, reckless, unrestrained, and unbridled. Do those things define the way we live for God? Totally abandoned. Refusing to be inhibited by the religious rules and fears of others. Rejecting safety, security, and comfort in favor of running toward risk recklessly when God calls us to do so. Do we live unrestrained by the religious apathy suffocating the life out of the church? Do we live unbridled following hard after God in a dead sprint? 

God wants us to live abandoned to Him. Not holding back. It is the way Jesus called His disciples to live when He told them to deny themselves, take up their crosses and to follow Him. [Matt 16:24] It is the way Paul lived when he said he did not count his life dear to himself but he wanted to finish his course of the ministry God called him to do testifying about Jesus. [Acts 20:24]. 

Living abandoned means willingly following Jesus anywhere to do anything at anytime. Some might say that is an unrealistic way to live. Others might say it is reckless. A few might even call it foolish. I call it biblical. Just go ahead and read your Bible. Read [Gen 12:1] [Ex 3:1-12] [Ex 14:1-16] [I Samuel 17:1-50] [II Sam 23:8-11] [I Kings 18:20-40] [Is 6:8] [Matt 16:24] [Matt 28:19-20]  [Mark 1:17] [Mark 16:15]  [Luke 9:23] [Acts 16:9-10]. Don't just sick over those verses. I challenge you to stop reading this and open your Bible to read each of those passages. That looks like abandoned living to me. It appears reckless. Uninhibited. Unrestrained. 

That is supposed to be normal Christianity. Not this watered down, play it safe, never risk, disobeying steps of faith, and refusal to lay our lives down in sweet surrender to the Savior who redeemed us. 

I see abandonment to God splashed all over the pages of the Bible. Sadly, I do not see it often enough in my own life or among Jesus followers. We make our excuses. We use our families. We point to fiscal responsibility to provide for our families, we plant deep roots geographically refusing to be available and to live yielded to God's leadership. None of them hold water. We cannot justify living for Jesus any other way but abandoned.

To live abandoned will cost us. It might cost us financially. It might cost us living in close proximity to our families. It might cost us our reputations. For a select few, living abandoned may even cost our lives. Is the risk of living abandoned worth the reward? YES AND A THOUSAND TIMES YES! One moment with Jesus in eternity will make any suffering, any sacrifice, any service pale in comparison to what awaits us on the other side. ETERNAL LIFE. LIFE EVERLASTING. That is why Paul could write, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." [Phil 1:21] If we live, we do so for Jesus abandoned to Him and His will. If we die, we benefit for all of eternity. 

Living abandoned personally means my life is not my own. Jesus bought me with a price and I am His. He can do with me whatever He pleases. He can let me serve Him all my days in obscurity and die with hardly anyone noticing. He can call me to give any sacrifice financially or possession. He can lead me to uproot and give a  new assignments anytime He chooses. I do not get to call the shots. I do not get the luxury of playing it safe until retirement. I do not have a say. My life is His. Sweetly surrendered. Abandoned. Though none go with me I still will follow. The world behind me and the cross before me. No turning back. No turning back.