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Sometimes God calls us to be different. That was the case with John the Baptist, he was different. Strange clothes, strange diet, strange way to live. He used his inability to fit in as a way to draw attention, not to himself, but to Jesus. He is the one the Old Testament said would prepare the way for the Lord, we need to do this too. As you go through your day-to-day routine, prepare the way for Jesus. Draw attention to him, give the Lord credit for the good things in your life and set-up Jesus-centered conversations with those around you.

Oh… and if you’ve never been baptized… if it was good enough for Jesus, surely it’s good enough for you. 🙂

Way to go! We’re one week (and a day, leap year you know) into our New Testament reading plan!* If you have not started, you’ve got plenty of time to catch-up. That’s one reason we don’t have any readings on the weekends, to let you catch-up whenever you might fall behind due to life, it happens.

At the start of Luke 2:39-52 we see Jesus as an 8-year old Jewish baby, and by verse 41, he is a 12-year old young man.

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In America today we have a very highly charged political climate. We have politicized every issue under the sun. One such issue is that of abortion. I’m of the view that the Bible makes a strong case for Christians having the obligation to protect the innocent and that people are people no matter how small (okay, that last part was Dr. Suess, yet none-the-less sure).

We can find ourselves thinking “this is as bad as it has ever been” or you might catch someone saying “our country is more divided than ever!” But is that true? Someone might want to open up an American History book to about 1861.

The fact of the matter is, bad is bad, and the world has always had evil in it (at least, since the fall of Man). Abortion is, I believe, a modern day blight on our generation… but think of Herod.

In Matthew 2 we learn that Herod killed all the boys from Bethlehem two-years-old and under.

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As we read* Luke 2:1-38 today, it’s amazing to think that this is not simply some fairy tale, it is true. There really was a boy named Jesus born to Joseph and Mary just over 2,000 years ago. Get in your DeLorean or TARDIS and go back to somewhere around 8-6BC and you’d see these events.

Most translations have something like the ESV:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

That’s the first 7 verses of Luke 2, there’s a problem with this, however

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As we move into our third day of reading the Bible together*, Matthew (also known as Levi) a tax collector, brings out most of what we know about Joseph. He was a “just man” and he was “unwilling” to bring any harm to Mary. This tells me Joseph was a good man and he loved his fiancé. God trusted him to be the father of His son.

This is a great example for us, just because you “can” do something, doesn’t make it the right choice. Joseph could have shamed Mary, but he didn’t. He chose the better way, and God honored that.

In your relationships, do you think about your minimum obligation to the other person? Only what they “deserve,” do you say to yourself “why should I…?” Don’t go down that road, be like Joseph, choose a better way. Be “just” don’t just give them what you think they deserve, give grace, have mercy…

*Reading the NT in 2016 plan can be found here