Thinking Differently - it's a God thing

God said - "This is my servant Caleb; he thinks differently...." (Numbers 14)

The photographs that go with today's post are not taken from the typical perspective. Early yesterday evening we'd just finished getting ready for a dinner party and I wanted to take another picture of the new kitchen. But I was tired of snapping the same old view. Consequently, I played around with perspective and orientation. I kind of like the result.

It made me think about one of my favorite Bible references: "This is my servant Caleb;" God said, "he thinks differently...." (Numbers 14)

Compliments from God -
There are a lot of ways we can receive compliments, and it's always nice to get a pat on the back. Some of us need to hear it more than others, and some get embarrassed by the attention, but we all appreciate the occasional "at-a-boy!". Once in a while, if we read the Bible carefully, we'll see those times like the Numbers passage - when God Almighty takes special note and gives someone a rare public "thumbs up".

I talk to a lot of people about their lives, and many conscientious pilgrims have told me they'd like to hear a "Well done, good and faithful servant" when their life is over, or "You kept the commandments", or "You never wavered from the course". The idea - for me - conjures an image of following the rules, coloring inside the lines, doing everything right, and making it to the end without straying the well-beaten path.

That's a laudable goal; God's Word is a peerless guide. But I'm not sure that the Bible is that much about conformity - at least not in the way that we tend to define it. I think the reason I like the Numbers passage so much is its reference to someone who is right there in the mix of things, living life at full tilt, who loves God with heart mind and soul - yet who stands out precisely because he didn't conform to the status quo.

"Check out my man Caleb," God says; "This dude is a bona fide individual; he doesn't follow along with the crowd; he thinks differently. Caleb actually gets it."

THINK DIFFERENTLY!

That's what I'm talking about!
Blessings and Peace - DEREK