Day 189

2 Kings 16:1-17:41, Acts 26:24-27:12, Psalm 81:8-16

It can actually be quite difficult to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and Israel found that out the hard way. We have got to that point I mentioned a few days ago, where Israel are in exile, where they feel rejected by God, separated from the temple and also with strange people living in their land and homes. A whole nation living in exile gives the impression that the tumbleweed will be blowing through the land, every town and village deserted. But that is not good management and so the nations that cart another nation off into exile ship somebody else in their place.

What I am getting at today though is that part where God told the people not to take on the practices of the people who they had driven out. You may remember this bit, when they were being led into the promised land, this is one of the clear things that they were told. In addition, they were not to copy the neighbouring nations either.

Easier said than done though. Is it not all too easy to get involved in that unhealthy conversation? To join with the pack when they are being unkind about someone? To watch that programme or play that game that we shouldn’t? OK, the people in the readings were doing rather extreme things like killing their kids – not good! The point still stands though. Jesus might be the good shepherd but the last thing he wants us to be is sheep, he wants us to stand out. Paul is still putting his head above the parapet on the ship, and that is what Jesus wants, lights that shine in the darkness and that aren’t hidden. People who stand out and don’t blend in.

What do you feel like today, a sheep or a light shining in the darkness?