Laurie Beth Jones:
Planned abandonment means learning how and when to say no, as well as cultivating the discipline of saying no. Because we live in a day and age when opportunities are endless, and ‘acres of diamonds’ lay everywhere at our feet, we need to be able to understand what to pick up and what to put down.
Having too many choices can be just as paralyzing as having or no choice at all.
However, planned abandonment doesn’t mean walking away from something that is difficult or isn’t working anymore. It means choosing between good and great, between better and best, saying no to all that glitters and discern what truly shines.
Jesus understood this and demonstrated it when he put down the hammer in the carpenter shop and picked up his walking stick. Being a carpenter was something he did very well, but there was something higher and more unique that he could do better than anyone else. He went toward that ‘occupation’, and the world was forever changed.
When Mary choose to leave her kitchen duties in favor of listening to Jesus, she was praised for her planned abandonment. Luke 10:42
