To be Or Not To BE, Different

Our lives are full of contradictions, and we can see this in The Written Torah. Before I go there, let us explore ourself.

We are driven by contradiction, by opposites. Not every one, not all of the time, but more often than not, for most people. Our actions are:

I want to be Me, but I don’t want to be alone.
I want to be popular, but I must have privacy.
I want to be adored, but only in a good way.
I want to be rich, but with no troubles.
I want to tell you the rules, but they don’t apply to me.
I want to be in charge, but not responsible.
If I do something wrong, it’s what I was told to do.
It’s not my fault, those are the rules; the policy; everyone else is doing it; it’s what they said to do!
I want to be safe, but made to not follow rules that keep safe.
I want to do I want, but I just don’t want to get caught.
I want GOD to save me, heal me, protect me, but I will not do what HE says.

However you decide to deal with those observations, what you do seriously matters to you.

So a short sample of my life. A story, if you will allow me. When I was in the US Navy the first time. I was given a ‘Boot’, referring to someone straight out of Navy Boot Camp, a common question arose, “When we are more than a thousand miles from the closest land, how can you not be scared?”. The question relates to safety. My response was to take them to the bow of the flight deck, so that the wind is hitting them in the face, they can look down and see the ocean below them. Show them the horizon in every direction, and a couple of football fields of deck and air craft. Have them now look forward again, out to sea, and ask: “What do you see?” Response:Sky and water in front of me. “What do you hear?” Response:People and machines. “Are your feet on a solid surface?” Response:Yes. “So like standing on the pier, you are safe looking out at sea.” Response: But I know there is water all around. “But you are on a big island, with water all around, like Long Island, New York or Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay or even Australia which is also an island. As long as you take care of your island, you only see a small piece of the water. Don’t worry, the island is not sinking, follow the rules and keep the island afloat, you are safe.”

The point of the story is that, your perspective of what you see is ALL you can see. I did not point out to the “boots” that you could easily drown in a bath tub. In general, our perception of what is going on and what is important makes us feel safe, and yet; The ONE that controls the seas, the island, the world and the universe, we don’t think about what HE wants, Declares, Demands or says to HIS children(us). I use that story above to demonstrate how we view our life; to bring it down to a size acceptable to our minds. Our Souls, the Spirit of THE LORD, is expected to strive to be better than the dirt of our body. HE created the Heavens and the Earth so that your soul would have the opportunity to prove itself as one of HIS children. Without the most valuable thing in the universe(your soul), you are only dust and not worth anything more than that dust.

Follow HIS rules, keep you soul afloat!

To be or not to be different? While for the most part, people are acting with mob mentality.
{Herd mentality, or mob mentality, describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. Examples of the herd mentality include stock market trends, superstition and home décor. Fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality}

A nice article on the examples of herd or mob mentality is: Top 10 Instances Of Mob Mentality

We are expected by the LORD GOD to be better: The rules we are given are about how we are to behave toward HIM and each other.  We are even told specifically: “Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou bear witness in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to pervert justice” or given the consequence of: “Isaiah 27:11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding; therefore He that made them will not have compassion upon them, and He that formed them will not be gracious unto them.” In the article ::“A People Without Understanding”

Different? Are you different? You can be different from the World and are required to be different, in HIS WAYS. The World is not following the LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL, but should do so. We are to be the example of what to be, how to be Different and even why to be Different.
Why be different: “Zepehaniah 1:2 I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the earth, saith the LORD.3 I will consume man and beast, I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the earth, saith the LORD.” For more about this see “The Last Day”.

How different is Different? As the LORD shows Jeremiah in:

“I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion;” a quote from Jeremiah 3:14. “One Of A City, Two of a Family?”

IT is to our benefit to HEARKEN until the LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL, and to our pain and shame to do otherwise.

My prayer is that The LORD grant you eyes that see, ears that hear and an understanding heart, then you return unto HIM soon!(Isaiah 6: 9 And He said: ‘Go, and tell this people: hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return, and be healed.’)

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Shalom,

Yaakov