A Different Beat

"Look at that guy, Mom," Raelyn said as she and her mother waited at a red traffic light. "He's practically dancing down the street instead of walking! He looks funny with his head bobbing back and forth like that.""I think he's listening to music," Mom said. "See his earbuds?""Yeah," said Raelyn. "He's walking to the beat of the music he's hearing, isn't he?""That's how it looks to me." Mom smiled as she watched the man bob in place while he waited for the crosswalk light to turn. "You know, that man reminds me of us as Christians."Raelyn gave her mother a little grin. "Are you saying we look like that when we sing worship songs in church?" Mom chuckled. "I was actually thinking about our walk with Jesus in this world," she explained. "Jesus tells us in the Bible that following Him as our Lord and Savior will cause us to be out of sync with the rest of the world. As we listen to Him and remember that He's changed us and given us eternal life, we walk to a different beat. When we follow His ways instead of going along with what everyone else is doing, we might look pretty strange to others.""That's true," said Raelyn. "Sometimes kids at school laugh at me when I refuse to cheat on homework or try to be kind to other kids they don't like.""People at work often think I'm strange too," said Mom. "Jesus says His Kingdom isn't of this world, which means His ways are very different from what we might see around us. The world tells us to follow our own desires and do whatever makes us feel good, but God says to follow and obey Him. And who loves you the most--God or the world?""God!" Raelyn exclaimed."Yes," said Mom. The light turned green, and she drove forward. "God loves us so much that Jesus died to save us, so we can trust that His ways are best.""Yeah." Raelyn turned to take one last look at the man dancing on the sidewalk before he was out of sight. "I want to walk to Jesus's beat and not worry about what other people think of me."–Lyndel F. Walker