Reckless Abandon
Ok, I learned something right off the bat in writing this post – what I thought should be “wreckless” is actually “reckless” – meaning without caution! I am writing about reckless abandon because it is a phrase that I want to characterize my love relationship with God. I want to love Him with reckless abandon because that is how He loves us. I totally believe we ought to approach our God with reverence and honor, but it must be coupled with some reckless abandon or our relationship will grow distant and cold.
We know that God has not given us a spirit of fear. When He adopted us into His family, He told us we are now sons and daughters. This means we can cry out to Him as Abba Father (Romans 8:15), which is the equivalent of crying out to our daddy. It denotes a special familiarity between a child and father. Jesus even cried out to his Abba Father in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prepared for the crucifixion.
So what does a reckless abandon love relationship with God look like? Well, let’s examine the scriptures to find out. One of the first examples I came across was when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, his only son, the son whom he loved – Isaac. I know that description of Isaac sounds a little redundant, but it is exactly how God described Isaac to Abraham in Genesis 22:2. It is as if God is reminding Abraham that He was asking him to give up the most precious thing he had. By the way, this is the first place in the Bible where the words love, honor, and worship are used.
Talk about some reckless abandon in love for God. Abraham followed the exact commands that God gave and even took the wood, the fire, and the knife to do the job. God provided a substitute sacrifice at the last minute and Abraham passed his test with flying colors. Abraham exhibited some “crazy love” for God in this picture of what Christ would do for us hundreds of years later.
In Matthew 26, I see another example of reckless abandon in the woman who anointed Jesus with the perfume that she had in an alabaster box. She poured the very expensive perfume on Jesus’ head, but was severely reprimanded by the disciples for “wasting” it on Jesus. Whenever we bring our best to Christ and use it up for Him, it is never a waste. This woman did not miss her moment to worship God in the flesh and Jesus came to her defense.
Please don’t miss the fact that both of these stories of reckless abandon are acts of worship. As Abraham approached the mountain where God had told him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, he told the other men with them that they were going up to worship. This woman who anointed Jesus had recklessly broken and spilled out her most valuable possession in an act of worship. Oh that our lives would be characterized by this kind of spontaneous love for God that we would not give a second thought about the cost or what we are “giving up” in our relationship with God.
Of course, this brings us to the most dramatic example of God showing us His love in reckless abandon by sacrificing His own son. John 3:16 tells us that God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son. What was foreshadowed on the mountain with Isaac and Abraham was completed in Jesus Christ. God did not hold back the best He has for us. He loves us with complete reckless abandon. He did that so we could have that Abba, loving relationship with Him. So run to Him often and without reservation – just as a child runs to his or her earthly father. This is the relationship God desires to have with us.
This idea of reckless abandon reminds me of one of my favorite songs by Steve Green: Broken and Spilled Out.