Laying It Down…
1 John 3:16-20 (Amplified Bible)
16By this we come to know (progressively to recognize, to perceive, to understand) the [essential] love: that He laid down His [own] life for us; and we ought to lay [our] lives down for [those who are our] brothers [in Him]. 17But if anyone has this world's goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him? 18Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity). 19By this we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate, and pacify) our hearts in His presence, 20Whenever our hearts in [tormenting] self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us. [For we are in God's hands.] For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understands) everything [nothing is hidden from Him].
This weekend an incident happened that rocked my belief that people were essentially good. For the past eleven years my parents have lived in their home, basically with many of the same neighbors, we only moved in almost six years ago. We have lived here without incident and have gotten along with all our neighbors, because my mother and father are just like that, they usually are adopted as mom and dad to many. For the past six months or so, my neighbors car alarm has been going off, all hours of the day and night... It has woken us up out our sleep at three in the morning and has gone off any time day or night. We had not once complained. But on Saturday my son was sitting upstairs playing a video game and His bed is by a window upstairs. The car alarm went off, approximately three times in a half hour period. My neighbor who saw my son sitting in the widow, made some assumptions, that my son had some sort of device that was setting off the alarm (my son is very intelligent, but he is not Einstein),and that he was responsible for the car alarm going off. He thought it was a good idea to come over, when he came over he approached me in a very defensive manner accusing my son of setting off the alarm and said her had been watching him in the window for the last thirty minutes, I laughed because my room is on the second floor as well and I have heard the alarm go off when my son has been out of the house or in another part of the house. He said he was making it known for the record and that he wanted my son to knock it off. I tried to explain to him that his assumptions and fears were unfounded, but he made some snide comments and left the house. The next day I was not at home and the alarm starting going off again. My son went to walk the dog and the neighbors son pulled up and asked my son was he messing with the alarm, my son replied no, and the neighbors son, proceeded to threaten my son with bodily harm, to make matters worse, the adults in the house had involved other neighbors, and were standing outside taunting my son from the street, making comments towards his bedroom window. I was getting phone calls where I was, I became unnerved, because my son was upset and it seemed people we had known for years, had loved and helped had now turned on our family over a deception and an assumption. I knew I could not get there right away so I was I began to pray and realize I had to lay all this down, and choose God’s guidance and peace, over my anger and desire to retaliate.
So many times in this journey and this walk with the Lord, people will mistreat us, lie on us, misuse, mishandle and even abuse us. We have a choice to carry it and carry the weight of it, or lay it down. If our life is truly laid down and hid in Christ, we can still see the need to pray for people who are despitefully using us or who are trying to hurt us. We can still try to communicate and do what is right by them, even when they may not be doing what is right by us. When we lay our life down we are choosing to be dead to the fleshly reaction (not that owe feel nothing)and we trade it in for a Godly reaction or choice instead. We are choosing to lay down, our ability to become offended for our ability to do the right thing instead. When we do this we are allowing truth to prevail in us. We are allowing God to take center stage and rise up big in us, and be the one who has preeminence over our decision making, instead of what may seem right to us. To lay our lives down and yield circumstances over is no easy task, it takes walking with God closely and hearing His voice so that His voice is heard over our own and His voice has preeminence over ours.
To lay down our life is something that is a part of this walk with Christ that is not for the faint in heart. It is for those who have decided that God’s will and submission to Him in all areas is the only way that we can go. It is a process of crucifying the flesh and allowing the Spirit of God to live, breathe and be an active living entity in our lives and our decision making. Laying down our life to the submission of God and to others is a daily decision and challenges our flesh. It challenges our mind to put our flesh under and do what may seem obscure and out of the ordinary to many…but it will always be the right thing for us, our growth and our walk with the Lord because we have decided to take up our cross and follow Him no matter what!
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