Choose Different

2020 did not give us many great things to take with us into 2021. There are plenty of things I would like to leave at the threshold as I step through the doorway into the New Year. You have your list and I have mine, but I think we can all agree that COVID is at the very top. Not likely it will be obedient and stay in 2020, but we can dream, right?

One gift that I am very thankful for came in the form of a tv show. It was released around Easter this year and I could not think of a more God ordained time. “The Chosen” is a tv series about the ministry of Jesus Christ. Erase all of your preconceived judgement about faith based films, this one is in a category all on its own. You can watch it on You Tube (you can fast forward through the director commentary at the beginning) or download the app for free and watch there. You can also purchase the DVDs on Amazon and at Wal-Mart. I can not recommend it enough.

My favorite scene is when Jesus calls a quirky outcast named Matthew to follow him. Matthew is hated by the Jews because he works for the Romans and the Romans hate him because he is Jewish. When Jesus calls him, Peter (another follower) immediately challenges this decision. “Are you sure? Do you know who he is? Do you know what he has done?” Jesus reminds Peter of his own past and the choices Peter has made. “Yes, but this is different.” Jesus’ response?

“Get used to different.”

I think we can all agree that we have had to “get used to different” this year. Nothing has been normal and will likely never be normal again. But God hasn’t called us to be comfortable or normal. He has called us to be different, live different, act different.

What will you do in 2021 that will reflect that you are different? Through Christ and his death on the cross, you are made to live differently.

A couple of years ago I read through the Bible for the first time. I learned more than I ever imagined about God. I was sad when it was over and couldn’t wait to read it through again. I decided to skip a year, because I didn’t want it to become routine and mundane. I wanted the next time to be a little different. I decided to read through the Bible chronologically. It wasn’t published that way, but placed in its current order by genre.

This year I am choosing different by reading the Bible through chronologically and I would love for you to join me.

Below is a graphic you can screenshot or click to download for the month of January.

I can’t wait to see what “different” aspects we learn about God and ourselves in the process.

Choose different. Jesus did. He didn’t choose an everyday normal life or everyday normal people.

Its time to get used to different. Let’s dive into God’s word together and see what we discover.