Go Where You Have Never Gone Before

Question to think about: Are you willing to break out of your routine and do something radical . . . to go where you have never gone before?

It is difficult for people to stop doing what they always have done. It is easier to stay in a comfortable realm of living, even when it is not a healthy way to live. Sometimes people are more willing to hurt themselves or others rather than change. Turns out change can be uncomfortable. Those who follow Christ are asked to give up the old comfortable way of living to live a new and radical way that leads to a healthy and purpose-filled living.

Society often views Christ-followers to be boring and mundane until they experience Christ for themselves. Christ leads followers to go where they have never gone . . . to do what they have never done. Christ, God with us, did not waste any opportunity to show humanity how to live. Look at what happened when Jesus took a different route from Judea to Galilee . . . lives were changed because Jesus took a radical way.

Right before the trip, the gospel of John refers to the Pharisees taking note of what Jesus was doing. The Pharisees, religious rulers in the ancient days, did not like Jesus. Known as Rabbi or Teacher, Jesus did things outside of the Pharisees' established rules. A Rabbi was to respect the rules. In fact, when Jesus left Judea to go back to Galilee he went through Samaria which was exactly the kind of thing that made the Pharisees mad. The Jewish people were not supposed to have contact with the Samaritans. Why would Jesus dare to do something so radical when he was already disliked?

Life has never been about the old ways and rules but about the love of God so Jesus took the radical route: To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon(John 4-6, The Message.

Take the radical route.
Break out of your old ways.
Stop. Think about what you are doing and where are you going.
Envision how the future would look if you changed your direction.
Is it worth changing?
Take a risk and change the direction you are going.
Go where you have never gone through the leading of Christ.
Turns out . . . the way of Christ is a radical adventurous life.

Learning with you to take the radical route,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)