Gone Missing

            Have you ever watched the television shows about missing persons? The ones I watch with the most interest are the episodes where someone pretends to be dead, but in reality they are hiding out somewhere. Sometimes they are in cahoots with another person to collect on an insurance policy, and sometimes they’re just running away from life in general, but they almost always get caught in the end. I think the thing that piques my interest the most is that someone would be willing to “die” in order to live the life they wanted to live; either with wealth, a clean slate or a new identity.

            Yet, as I consider my life as a Christ-follower, I find this is exactly what I have been encouraged to do. The Apostle Paul says I should “reckon” myself dead in order to live in the spiritual wealth which has been provided for me, begin each day with a clean slate and enjoy a new identity! Wow! What a revelation.

            In the 21^st century world, we sometimes have difficulty understanding the word “reckon.” Not me…I grew up with the word. Whatever else the history of the word is, as far as I’m concerned it’s a down-home word from the hills of Southeastern Kentucky. When my grandmother, Mamaw as we called her, used to prepare for a family meal, she would set the table. It was my responsibility to help make sure there were plenty of dishes, knives, folks and spoons for everyone. Mamaw’s plates didn’t match and the silverware was certainly not silver, but every place was set with love and care. Many times, according to my calculations, we were setting more places than necessary. I would ask Mamaw why so many places. Her response was always the same. She’d say with a smile while wiping her hands on her apron, “I reckon when everybody gets here we’ll need every plate.” What Mamaw was doing was practicing the Scriptural principle of reckoning. Now, she didn’t know that’s what she was doing, but she was acting as though something had already happened, before it did. Somehow she knew that come supper time, people would gather around the table until it was full.

            When Paul says, “Reckon yourselves dead unto sin,” he was saying; before it has happened, before you have all the evidence…act as though it’s already true. Reckon it so. What he was suggesting was that we act as though the old person, the old life, the old habits are dead, even before we see it happen. Why? Because sometimes the only way to have room to hold all of the promises of God is to make room at the table for them…before they show up.

            Perhaps it sounds a little morbid but do you know what the desire of my heart is? I would love for my life to become so dead, that people wouldn’t be able to find me. I would love to look so much like Jesus that when people walked right by me they wouldn’t see me, but see Him. I’d like for them to send out a search team to look…check into my whereabouts…drag the lakes and streams in an effort to find a “me” that had been “reckoned” right into grave.

            What if the next television show you watched about someone who had gone missing was about you? What if you were featured as a person who just disappeared because somewhere along the line you ceased to exist as you, and started to look more like Jesus than you do yourself?