Abandon

What a difference it makes.

Abandon

Do we think about words that have opposite meanings? We can according to what we are talking about. It depends on what we are going to abandon. Will we abandon something good, or is it bad or harmful?

If a husband told his wife he was going to abandon alcohol, she might be ecstatic, whereas if the husband told his wife he would abandon her, it would devastate her.

The difference is not in the word's meaning but in the abandonment's object. The word abandon means to leave or to give up. What is left or what I give up makes all the difference.

The same is true when we talk about things of God. God has said, "I will never leave or forsake (or abandon) you." Heb. 13:5. He is illustrated in the parable of the Prodigal Son as the father. God never abandoned the son, but the son abandoned his father.

Suppose we take a "what If" on this parable; we might have the son never returning to his father, which would illustrate a person who once knew God but then later in life abandoned him. In this state, we can imagine the outcome.

This example is a warning to us since there are warnings to remain faithful to God. Once saved, always saved is not the truth in the gospel.

In years past, I started taking words from the dictionary and writing whatever the word provoked. I should have dated them. Sorry.