Daily Devotional

When I was pretty little, I realized I had a small bald spot.  It is on the left side of my head, in the hair at the temple.  I worried often about that.  I did not want to look weird to other people.  I usually had short hair and would be embarrassed if it showed.

I am now 76 years old.  That bald spot is still covered.  It still seems a defect.  I think it came from some ringworm stuff when I was little.  At least that was what I was led to believe.  I have had a lot of these kinds of fungal skin infections throughout my life.  But that spot has yet to embarrass me much!  It is virtually always invisible.

The cry of our hearts to be conformed to some image acceptable to “man,” to our peers around us, is one of the most common inner-man issues to afflict us.  That cry causes many fears, and it drives us to many unhealthy choices, and even unholy choices to fit in with what others are doing or believing, how they are dressing or talking.

But we as believers in Christ are called to not be conformed, to not be common people, to not be driven to be like the people around us.

But ye are a chosen generation,
A royal priesthood,
A holy nation,
A peculiar people.  
1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

The King James Version Bible says we are to be peculiar.  Just precisely what our flesh does not want to do!  This desire to be like others is prevalent in the world.  But it exists also in the church.  We want to be accepted by others, in whatever arena we are.

Just a few days back, my younger daughter said that growing up in our household made her feel like she was being squeezed and pushed and forced into a little box.  She pointed to a small, wicker basket on our table, only big enough to hold about three books.  From this pressure she recoiled, and we all suffered.

But her perceptions were right.  My athletic and even military backgrounds made me lean toward demanding compliance.  Even as a Christian, I thought there was only one way to serve the Lord.  I was trying hard to do it.  I was young in the Lord, about three years old when she was born.  I had a lot to learn.  God used Anne, as well as Lynn, to push some of those growth buttons, and topple the tower that seemed so right to me at the time.

We are called to be peculiar people.  I am not called to be a “conformed Christian!”  I am called to be unique, to be peculiar, to be myself, while still holding to God’s truth, to Christ as Savior, and to a holy and righteous life.  Being conformed as a Christian almost always means being conformed to other men and women, and their Christian views.  But that is how we get cults and become Pharisees!

What is my calling?  How do I live that out?  Certainly not according to the expectations of others!  How could I ever hear and follow God if I am trying to be like others?  I have been “called out” by God.  What does He want from me, of me, by me, through me?  How does He want to me to walk with other brothers and sisters?  To whom do I submit as my Christian leaders and mentors?  Where is the body of believers among whom I am to function?  

God is God, and not a man (Hosea 11:9).  His work is not like ours.  It is not a man work.  It is not normal.

For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual (strange) task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary (alien) work.  
Isaiah 28:21 (NASB)

I want God to do His unusual and even strange tasks.  I want to be there.  I want Him to work such things in me.  I want a God work, not a man work, no matter how religious or spiritual it seems.  I want God to do His extraordinary work!  Who wants to be ordinary?  Our work ordinary?  Conformed?  Acceptable to man?  How will we ever obey God like that?

I want God to do His alien work!  His Paul work.  His Daniel work.  His Mary the mother of Jesus work.  His Ezekiel work.  His Elijah work, morphing into His Elisha work.  His Deborah work.  His Jael work (Judges 4:21).  His Abraham offering Isaac work.  His work in people of whom the world is not worthy (Hebrews 11:38).  His Philip with the eunuch in the chariot work.  His Stephen work.

His woman of the city work, wetting Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, kneeling at His feet, kissing His feet, and anointing Him with ointment work (Luke 7:37–38).

Finish with further study recommendations:
• Read Isaiah 6, Jeremiah 1, Ezekiel 1–3, Daniel 1, Luke 1 and Revelation 1
• Play and sing the following songs, making the sentiments and prayers your own.
- So Send I You, by Margaret Clarkson.  Look up and read Margaret’s story!  Music by John W. Peterson.
- I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go, by Mary Brown.  Music by Carrie E. Rounsefell.

The Holy Bible. King James Version. Oxford UP, 1769.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation