Abandon
“I want to live with abandon, give you all that I am, ever part of my heart, Jesus, I place in your hands.” Newsboys
The song “Live with Abandon” by the Newsboys came out a couple of years ago and my son didn’t understand all the words. On the way home one day, after hearing this song, he asked, “Why would you want to live with a bandit?” It gave us a good laugh and we told him the actual words they were singing. His response, “Oh, that makes more sense.” As I think back on this funny memory it brings a rather odd question to mind. Would you rather live your life with a bandit or with abandon?
Hang with me as I explain what I mean by this odd question. My son asked a good question, do we willingly live with a thief? Who would want to live with someone they could not trust? Yet, there are many people who do live with a bandit. The only purpose of the devil is to destroy the kingdom of God. Satan wants to steal your life from you, to keep you from living for God. He is so good at being a bandit you don’t even realize he has stolen from you until it is too late. For the non-Christian, life can be full of fun, success and everything could be going great. When your life is this wonderful you tend to not need God, or at least that is what one thinks. Flip the coin, if you are a Christian, you do not get a free pass. The devil with do all he can to bring you down, he can not have your soul, but he can cause your life to be miserable. There are times, we get caught up in the negative things of live, I am one of those people, and forget that when I start doing this the devil is winning. Why, because I am not working for God when I am focusing on poor pitiful me. The bandit has entered your thoughts, your home, and will still life right from under you. Is this you? Are you caught up in your struggles? This drains you physically and spiritually, and eventually no one wants to be around you. Which turns into a cycle, the thief has entered in and is slowly stealing from you. So, I ask again do you want to live with a bandit or with abandon?
How can you live with abandon? To live with abandon you simply need to give up control of your life, give up your dreams, possibly withdraw from loved ones, and follow Jesus. When you read those words, did you think there is no way? It sounds absolutely horrible, but is just the opposite. Living for Jesus isn’t easy, and it will not get easier. The truth about living with abandon is you can’t assume you will get by with telling God one time I will live for you and you alone, I am abandoning my life, my dreams, for the plans you have for me. This is a daily commitment. I made the mistake of thinking I said it once, I can continue my life now. In order to truly live life with abandon, you have to die to self daily and give God control daily. Each day is new, and so is God’s mercy but since yesterday is no longer today, I have to renew my commitment to God. I will admit this has not been an easy lesson for me to learn. “Commit your activities to the Lord,and your plans will be achieved.” (Proverbs 16:3) This verse can be taken out of context, remember you have to be in God’s will. I have been caught in this before, it is my plans and things should go the way I think or want them to go, but that isn’t always the case. “A man’s heart plans his way,but the Lord determines his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) I am learning that my plans don’t always line up with God’s plans for my life and this throws a big kink into things. Those things being my plans, but also my attitude. I’m stubborn and I want things to go how I have them planned, and when that happens, well, lets just say I’m not always the nicest person to be around. I am working on this, but it is a slow process. Let’s change gears and focus on what I have learned from trying to live with abandon:
- My life will take a direction (probably many directions) that I didn’t plan.
- Rejection, although it hurts, try not to take it personally, God is simply redirecting me.
- My suffering is God buffering me, so that I am polished for what’s to come.
- What I see as a shut door, often a slammed door in my face, or worse a smashed finger from the door being shut, is God moving me to a door not yet opened, something better.
When we choose to live life with abandon we have to remember that we need to live life daily and not weekly or monthly or yearly. As Christians we are most effective when we give God our lives daily and listen to what His plans are for our lives. So, I ask yet again, would you rather live life with a bandit or with abandon? Until next time, “May Yahweh bless you and protect you.” (Numbers 6:24)
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