Would You Leave It All?
As we live our lives we grow accustomed to various activities; we grow closer to certain people; we become comfortable being in certain places. We develop a safety zone - or our own bubble. And it can often be difficult - even undesirable - to leave our bubbles; to leave those people we care for.
Before becoming Christians, sin would have been a part of the comfortable bubble. And it is a challenge to remove that sin from the comfort zone, but through God’s plan of salvation we can do it. This task can be harder for some than for others. Some people grow up in Christian homes and are brought up knowing the truth and may not have to leave as much behind as those who perhaps grew up with different beliefs.
Regardless of our upbringing, we have to leave things from our previous life behind. But what if you had to leave it all? What if you had to leave your job; your home; your friends and family. Would you leave everything behind in order to follow Jesus?
We can read of examples where Jesus’ disciples did this very thing! In Matthew 4:18-20, Jesus called Andrew and Peter, who were fishing, and they “immediately left their nets and followed Him”. Here we see Andrew and Peter leaving their job. In verses 21 and 22 of the same chapter, James and John are called and they immediately left their job and their father. In a few verses we see followers of Christ leaving their homes, family, and careers!
We need to have that proper attitude. In both examples we read that they immediately left. God must come first! We cannot tell God to wait while we attend to other matters and then follow after Him (Matt. 8:21-22).
Ruth is another example of someone who left it all. She left her family, friends, and home and came to an entirely different people. “[…] and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” (Ruth 2:11-12).
We must leave anything and everything that would stand between us and the Lord. If we leave our comfort bubble and instead reside under God’s “wings”, we shall find a rich reward.
-- John Thrower Jr.