John 18: 38b-40. After he had said this, then he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”  They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!”  Now Barabbas was a robber.

Who will you choose today?  Do you want to be more like Jesus or the world?  I am not sure why it has become custom to justify our wrong behaviors because that is what the world has decided, but if you truly want a close relationship with God then you have to be willing to be different.  Now, that doesn’t mean that you run around like a crazy person, it means that you are willing to allow God to work in and through you to make you more like Him!

Yes, it is God’s love and grace the draw us to Him and He loves us more than we can fathom, but He is still a Holy God!  Sin is still sin and we should never take lightly what Jesus did on the cross!  When we act like the world we don’t give the world any reason to want any part of God.  Do we not fear God?  He loves us and He wants a close walk with us, but He will also discipline His children!  When you love your kids, you don’t just allow them to do and say anything they choose true love guides and disciplines! 

I have heard people justify their “bad language” because that’s just the way people talk now, it is socially acceptable.  Seriously?  I have actually heard people say, “well, I swear” like it is some sort of badge of honor.  It’s not!  The Bible says in Matthew 18:17- 20, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?  But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person.”  Take a look around!  You can see all of those things including the rampant false accusations and slander!  So, is it ok to join the world in all of those things?  I think not!  The Bible is very clear on all of those things!

How about you?  Who will you choose today?  Will you choose Jesus or Barabbas (the world)?  Do you want enough of Him to make a difference in the world?  Are you willing to get up in the morning and ask Him to give you a clean heart and a right attitude for the day so you can reach others for Him?  Are you willing to take a stand as Joshua put it in Joshua 24: 14-15, “Now, therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt.  Serve the Lord!  And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  

It is time to make a difference, but you can’t do it by acting like the rest of the world.  They want to see someone who is different, someone who can show them hope, someone who cares enough about what they believe to be different.  This is a choice every day, so who will you choose?  

Quote:  “If what you believe doesn’t affect how you live, then it isn’t very important.”  ~ Dick Nogleberg

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