All In. This phrase can mean so much. Hold nothing back. Give everything you have. Do what it takes. We use this phrase when talking to our staff at camp. We want to be All In so others that are at camp will be "All In" too. If you lead out in something, the leaders have to be All In, if we expect others to give everything as well.
I've been leading a study on Francis Chan's book Forgotten God. He makes a statement in regards to giving up everything if we were asked to. And he goes along the thought of "it's harder to be All In the longer we live this life....because we have more". When we have little, going All In isn't as hard. And very few of us in America fall into that category.
Think about it. We start building up our American dream. The family, the kids, the dog. The comfortable living. The necessities are just a short trip to WalMart or Target. Most of us aren't worrying whether our roof is going to leak or not. Most of us aren't worried whether we're going to have a meal for breakfast, lunch, or supper. No thought that there wouldn't be food at the house in the pantry or refrigerator. Matter of fact, we have so much that we buy an "extra freezer". I do. I've got an extra freezer. Please understand, I'm not against these things. I just think that when I think about answering the question, "Would you be willing to give this up?" I think it's harder to say yes because of what I've become accustomed to.
We have a road ahead of us when we follow Christ that isn't an easy one. I don't see in scripture where people were called to comfort. They simply answered the call of "Follow Me". That plays out different for different people around the world. But there is a commonality among all Christ followers, and that is we are called to deny ourselves. And sometimes I struggle with that. I suspect I'm not the only one. My prayer is that I will constantly be following Jesus, and ready to say "Yes...I'm willing".
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