Lambano

I know right?! It sounds like a close relative of a party game where players lower their bodies under a bamboo bar without touching it hoping to prove themselves the most flexible of all players. Actually, it’s no game. It’s a Greek word that the Holy Spirit keeps bringing to my attention.

Lambano: To lay hold of by aggressively accepting what is offered. (Emphasizes the volition of the receiver.)

Volition just means assertiveness or initiative. The first time I noticed the word was in John 1:12

“But as many as RECEIVED Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name.”

Did you catch that? It’s within your power to change your very birthright by becoming aggressively assertive in the way that you receive. Receive what? Him. Jesus. If you follow my blog, I’m sure you’ll hear more of this word Lambano as I continue to try to wrap my mind around its implications for living. Suffer me one more thought for today. In the same chapter, John 1:5, John calls Jesus the Light and says,

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not OVERCOME it.”

The Greek for that word, “Overcome”, is from the word Katalambano.

Kata: “down, according to”

So Kata combined with Lambano is the idea of grasping something in a forceful manner to bring it down and make it subject to oneself.

Think about it. Darkness doesn’t have what it takes to overpower Jesus and make Him subject to its devices. So… if I aggressively accept Jesus and become a child of God, then darkness has no power to overcome me either. If you have never Lambano-d Him, why would you wait any longer? Start with a conversation: a verbal declaration. He hears you. He’s all too pleased to walk you through the details. Something like this would work if your heart is in the speaking…

Jesus, I believe in you. I don’t even know or understand all the details yet, but I believe in your Name. I want to be a child of God and escape the clutches of darkness. Teach me how Jesus died for me, overcame the power of sin and death, and how he exchanges all of the brokenness in me for Real, Abundant living. I’m so excited for this Lambano journey. Walk me through it. ~Me