So today we have looked at the “Art of Leaving” ...... is back from YWAM and ewill be leaving us again. Why talk about leaving? Because we will be addressing the Exodus of the Hebrew people, the people of Israel from Egypt for a while on coming Sundays. Leaving for you might be a case of celebrating your past but seeking after what God has in store for you next. Right at the start of this I’d like to point out that this is not about leaving people. If that thought occurred; i you have made a commitment to a person or a situation, particularly if it is a covenant relationship, do all you can to make it work. Society if littered with broken relationships that could have been resolved where no one had a winning outcome.
Genesis had a few leavings, the entry of sin, the fall was a cause of some leaving for instance:
-”So the LORD God banished him [Adam] from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.” (3:23)
-”Cain because he killed Abel had to leave; So, Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, East of Eden.” (4:16)
-The tower of Babel is another example; “So, the LORD scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.” (11:8)
Well, there’s a few examples of heavy exits, forced exits.
Genesis also contains a few good departures:
-”The LORD said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will so you.’” (12:1)
-”So, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot lived.” 19:29)
-Jacob was one who left a lot of places and he said this; “Then come let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an alter to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” (35:3)
The reasons for leaving can as we have discussed be quite different. All of us sitting here had ancestors or ourselves leave somewhere, be it Hawaiki, Tonga, Samoa, England, Scotland, Ireland, Malaysia, Korea, Africa, Christchurch, Timaru or somewhere else for us to be here in Tawa, New Zealand now.
As Christians, God calls us, he calls us to leave behind our pasts, through repentance from our sins. Jesus said that all those who follow him, would have to leave behind something. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matthew 16:24-26)
It’s an interesting thing that Jesus doesn’t call us to leave behind a place, but to leave ourselves. Leaving for you might be a case of celebrating your past but seeking after what God has in store for you next.
But in coming to Chris, a lot of people in this current age seem to think that they can carry their old self into their walk with him. Saving that old self and life in Jesus own words results in the eventual loss of that life anyway. You can’t be anchored in your past and move forward. Leaving that old life is a spiritual thing, the old has passed away and as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 14-17. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
So, from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
So leaving well, anything, any place requires prayerful consideration, be it a physical departure from a place. In the case of a spiritual departure from a thing that has a hold on you, it will be a battle, but victory belongs to our God. It will be a good departure if we hold fast to the truth of scripture, to keep our eyes focused on the goal, (ref Philippians 3:14-15) on what is right (Philippians 3:14-15). The priority is our relationship with God, for he sets our direction; Proverbs 16:9 tells us: "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." And in Psalm 32:8: "The Lord says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.'"
Whatever the thing is eyes on the Lord for he directs our paths. He is watching over you.
