By Josh Kerby
How many times have you thought you couldn’t live without something? Have you made certain things in your life essential? Doing this can be dangerous. Anything you can’t surrender to God is a false god in your life. It may sound extreme, but it’s true. God asks us to surrender everything we have to Him and follow Him. He wants us to abandon our lives and ambitions for the life He wants to give us, but what does it mean to abandon our lives. Let’s start with a dictionary definition.
To Abandon:
- To leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.
- To give up; discontinue; withdraw from.
- To give up the control of.
To abandon our lives is to give up control of them. Withdraw from the fight over our lives, forsake our earthly desires, and seek God. When Jesus came to earth, He invited everyone to abandon their typical lives and follow Him. His disciples answered the call and got to learn from the greatest man to walk the earth. Paul answered the call and got to see the church grow and the gospel spread. Moses got to experience God lead His people out of Egypt. Joshua was lead into the promised land with His people, and the list goes on. Now, we must also remember the great ordeal these people went through. Some of them suffered greatly. To them, God’s work and the riches of Heaven far outweighed the temporary suffering they would face. They saw the whole picture. They saw that the work God gave them was so much more important than their own ambitions.
Some people are afraid to completely abandon their lives because of the judgment they would face from others. It was put simply for me one day, would you rather be judged by temporary people in this temporary life or by an all-knowing, all-powerful, infinite God at the beginning of your eternal life. I know which one I would choose. If you say you are a believer, but you don’t want to completely surrender your life because of the potential judgment, you have made your pride an idol. If you look at John, He ate locust and honey, lived in the wilderness, and was judged all the time by others. John, however, saw that God’s plan was far more important and completely abandoned His life to follow it. He didn’t care what others thought, He only cared about the work God asked Him to do.
I don’t think living an abandoned life for Christ comes easily. I think it is a steady process. Each day we surrender our lives again, each morning, afternoon, and evening. Each day we seek how to live in abandonment. Each day we look at our lives and surrender something different. Sometimes it’s the same thing every day until we finally let it go. It’s an uphill battle, trudging through our own pride and self-worth to find the Glory of God. We seek God’s grace, mercy, and righteousness daily and pray He will guide our hearts. A life lead by Christ is a life lived in abandonment.
Do you want to live a sold out life for Christ? Do you want to make Him your everything? Join me. Come along side and lay down your life. Abandon it at the foot of the cross. Give it to Christ and ask Him to lead you. Things might get rough, but when we start to look at the big picture every day, we see how insignificant our suffering is. Join me this week and surrender a part of your life that you have made an idol. Let’s stand together for Christ. Let’s live a sold out life for Christ.
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