Abandonment
Scripture: Luke 9:23 — “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
When you hear the word abandonment, you probably think of someone abandoning you. Maybe a parent who left. A friend who found a new group and ditched you. Someone who used to be close, but you haven’t talked to them in forever. That kind of abandonment is real, and it hurts. But that’s not what I want to talk about.
The abandonment I’m talking about is the abandonment of ourselves.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve settled for a Christianity that’s all about catering to us — our comfort, our preferences, our convenience. But the central message of Christianity was never about serving ourselves. It’s about abandoning ourselves. Jesus said it plainly: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
The Christianity that carried the Gospel across the world — and eventually all the way to America — was night and day different from the version a lot of us live today. Look at the difference:
They prayed all night long. We can barely pray over our meals.
They walked miles to get to church. We won’t get up to go to Sunday school.
They burned at the stake for their faith. We won’t even tell our best friend about Jesus.
Somewhere, we traded a cross for a cushion.
But Jesus is still calling us to the very same thing He called them to: take up your cross and follow Him. That means abandoning your comfort. Your clout. Your choice. Your way. And in its place — choosing Jesus. Fully. Daily. No matter what it costs.
Here’s the good news: what you abandon for Him, you never really lose. Jesus said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24). You don’t lose your life when you give it to Jesus. You finally find it.
This week: Pick one thing you’ve been gripping onto — one comfort, one habit, one fear of what people think — and lay it down. Deny yourself there, take up your cross, and follow Him.
Prayer: Lord, I don’t want a comfortable, self-centered faith. I want to follow You for real. Help me deny myself, take up my cross, and choose You — even when it costs me something. You can have all of me. Amen.