Abandonment Is Real

Abandonment is real for an unimaginable number of people in the world today. They have been forsaken by those who were supposed to protect them. Their days are fraught with danger and temptation, and their protection is virtually non-existent. The Psalmist writer penned, “When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me” (Psalm 27:10 NKJV).

Many people in this world have found themselves alone, forsaken and abandoned. Their own parents will not come to their rescue. Their families have no care or concern for their wellbeing. These people need to learn what the Psalmist writer learned – that God never forsakes you. Psalm 27:14 provides consolation when it says, “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”

I’ll Never Abandon the Lord

Joshua 24:16 represents a praiseworthy disposition toward God. “So the people answered and said: ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods.’” However, the commitment of one generation is often followed by the downfall of another as humanity’s relationship with God ebbs and flows. The Israelites of Joshua’s day were filled with conviction that they would never depart from God, and they would never be willing to forsake the Lord. Yet, in reality, it was just a short time before they turned away from the Lord and turned to idols. Even in the first century church, the reality is that Christians abandoned God just like Israel had abandoned God. The apostle Paul noted this human failing. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

Return to the Lord

Isaiah 31:6-7 reads, “Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold – sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.” God wants those who have abandoned Him to return, to come back and to renew their relationship with Him once again. He has not forgotten nor forsaken them if they would just be willing to repent and to return. Notice Isaiah 55:7, which says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

Abandonment Rewarded

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave this assurance. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:29-30). Jesus wants us to clearly understand the importance of spiritual matters over physical concerns. It is with this importance that God makes sure that Christians know they cannot ever abandon anything for God’s sake and Him be unaware of their sacrifice. While God clearly excepts us to keep our obligations, responsibilities and vows, if any person or thing in our lives comes between us and God, we need to remove such hindrances. We need to abandon anything except God if Heaven is to be our eternal abode.