Corona Devo 1181

It's hard to be different.  Ask the zebra--the only one in the animal kingdom with wild black and white stripes.  They will never "blend in", but they weren't created to.

It's hard to be different.  Ask the giraffe with that neck that goes on forever.  They will never "fit in", but they weren't created to.

It's hard to be different.  Ask the follower-of-Christ: 

• Purposing not to step on-top-of-people to get ahead: we're told we will never be successful.  
• Choosing honesty in school, work, money, relationships: the world laughs at our morals.  
• Loving others instead of excluding them: "It'll never work", the world jeers.

And yet--There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces...who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people... ~Esther 3:8

Are we those people today?  I sure hope so.  

Do our lives/actions/responses look different from the world's?  Do we keep ourselves separate from everyone else because we are seeking to mirror God instead of mimic each other?   

Whose law are we obeying with our schedules, our time, our hearts?  The law of the land: the law of popularity, status, money, beauty, education and success?  

If we seeking to abide by God's law, then our lives will look separate because His laws are different.

• The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul.  The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  ~Psalm 19:7

• Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  ~Joshua 1:8

• So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  ~Matthew 7:12

~~~

It's hard to be different, and what stems from God's Word, law, and love can crimp the style of others who want nothing to do with Him.

In the Book of Esther, Haman was a high official (the highest) under King Xerxes, and he had the royal ego to go with his position.  It had become law for  all the king’s officials (to) bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by... But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect.  ~Esther 3:2

When Mordecai (who bowed to God alone) would not "worship" Haman in this way, Haman was incensed and filled with rage. (6) He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.  ~Esther 3:2

Whoa, Haman!  Slow down!  Cool down!  But, Haman did not relent, and he moved forward with a determined plan to exterminate the Jews.  His first task was convincing the King that this was necessary:.

Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.  ~Esther 3:8

(Believe it or not, the King agreed to this plan for Jewish genocide!  Check out the Book of Esther in the Bible to see what happened next!)

Mordecai did not hide the ways that he lived for the Lord, and people knew that he was a one of God's people.  It was who he was, and it made him different.  He didn't do what "others" did.  He didn't fit in, he didn't blend in, and he wasn't created to.

It is the same story for us, as modern-day followers of God and His law.  We shouldn't be doing/saying/watching/accepting what the world does, if it goes against what God's law does/says/portrays/accepts.

I was brainstorming an example of this when our daughter texted me:  

You would have been proud of me.

When we sat down for lunch I was with (the "popular" girls), but then (a less-"popular" girl) came over and they said, "Oh we don't really have room over here", even though only one side of the table was being used. 

So then (the less-"popular" girl) went away to sit at a table by herself, really sad, and I went to the bathroom to think about my options. 

I then picked up my lunch and did the walk over to another table to ask if me and (less-"popular" girl) could sit there...  They said "Yes", and made room for us.  

It turns out that one girl that I didn't really know is a strong Christian, but because I had never hung out with her, I wouldn't have known... 

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, (2) but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  (3) That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.  ~Psalm 1:1-3

~~~

Lord, EVERYONE is invited to become a member of Your certain race of people scattered through all the provinces, but the catch is that when we follow You, it forces us to keep ourselves separate from everyone else.  Your laws are different from those of any other people (Esther 3:8), but we seek to BE Your people.  Amen.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com