Living with Abandon

Sunday Pastor Jeff talked about living with Abandon.  Abandon.  Merriam Webster describes the verb of abandon as to give up to the control or influence of another person or agent; to give oneself (over) unrestrainedly.  This definition brings to mind the following things:  

• To let go
• To forget that people are watching
• To live life fully according to my faith in God
  

Before you go and pass judgment on me or think that I'm too crazy with these ideas, try these scenarios on for size.  

• At the local knitting bee you let your cardigan drop carelessly to the floor, wave your yarn wildly over head, and chant "CA-BLE-NEED-LE! CA-BLE NEED-LE!"  
• At your child's school performance you run to the front of the auditorium with the video camera, knocking other parents out of the way to film your child while screaming "No one have ever been that good of a rock before!  You're gonna be a star!  Mama loves you, baby!!!"  
• On the front lines of the 0400 crowd at the after Thanksgiving sale you take your buggy (yes, buggy!) and plow over shoppers in front of you to get the very last $99.99 item.  

Those are all instances of living with abandon.  Absurd, maybe, but Abandon.  Jesus wants nothing less than having us live with Abandon for Him.  He did likewise for us.  He died a horrible death for our sins; He was perfection in the form of broken humanity, hanging on a cross, in humility, to save us.  He deserves at the minimum is for me to live each day for Him with Abandon and let the world see.  

Living A Life of Cliches

This month I have been posting daily at Twitter and Facebook one thing I am grateful for.  The list is varied; you will find anything from "being able to wear jeans to work" to "Thankful to be a child of the King of the Universe".  I have had a lot of fun posting these things. 

In my typical fashion, though, I decided that simply being grateful is not enough and that I should name this initiative of positive existence.  I decided upon "A November to Remember" and then the phrase "Attitude of Gratitude" came to mind and I didn't know which would fit.  After all, an idle mind is the devil's playground and I got so tied up in naming this activity rather than being grateful that I got mad as a wet hen and realized I was barking up the wrong tree altogether!

Feeling dumb as a stump, I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that the point of this exercise is to be grateful not to get tied up in the details of what to call the act of doing so.  So, hope against hope, I scrapped the naming process and to back to the action of being grateful.  Praise God!  He reminded me that it ain't over til the fat  lady sings and in the way only He can do, He gave me yet another second chance. 

I'm going to get down to business and share the point directly with you:  listing things I'm grateful for is not the same as living a life that demonstrates gratitude.  And living a life of gratitude has one simple name:  Christianity.  It doesn't need for me to relabel it or rework it in my head. 

My gratitude for today is this:  grateful that I can live a life that is pleasing to my King.  Stop the presses!  I think I may be onto something here! 

I Wonder . . .

One of the things that I love about the fall is the revival of nature.  During the summer it seems to me as though everything outdoor is stagnant; nothing seems to move.  But in the autumn season everything comes to life.  Leaves sway and dance in the breezes that the season brings; flowers seem to perk up their colorful faces as they look for something.  Creeks sing a little louder and songs of the birds seems to be fresher. 

Why does nature seem more animated in the fall?  I'll give you my theory. 

Paul tells the Romans in 8:19 that the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Maybe what we're seeing in the fall breezes, crisp mornings, and autumn moons is God's creation singing His praises loudly and tell Him that they cannot wait for His return.  Maybe they are shouting out gratitude to the God of the universe.  And maybe, just maybe, that's why I always seem to get a little restless in the fall.  Maybe that stirring inside of me is the natural desire of my soul to join all creation in song as we sing, shout, dance, and lift praises on high to God Almighty. 

I just wonder.