A Letter from Bishop Chris (January 2025B)
Friends,
As part of my daily spiritual practices for 2025 I’m using both a bible reading plan (sequentially through the Bible) and the Daily Office (and particularly the Psalms). In my Scripture engagement, I just finished reading about Joseph (Genesis) and I’m now in the life of Moses (Exodus). Reflecting on their stories has caused me to realize the importance of the choices we make.
When you look at these two men, the circumstances of their lives were very different. Jospeh was raised in a typical Hebrew home while Moses was raised by Egyptian royalty. Jospeh was nearly murdered; Moses committed murder. Joseph spent his early life in prison; Moses spent his early life in a palace. Joseph was elevated from prisoner to prime minister while Moses was demoted from prince to being a shepherd in the desert.
And yet, their lives also had remarkable similarities. Both men encountered the living God; Joseph through dreams and Moses at the burning bush. Both were used mightily by God for salvation; Joseph through his work in famine relief and Moses by leading the nation out of slavery. And at pivotal moments, both made crucial choices to follow God rather than forsake him and this affected their outcomes of their lives.
Joseph chose to follow God even though he experienced betrayal, enslavement, and wrongful imprisonment. He chose to obey God even through he was lied about, overlooked, and lost years of his life. He chose not to allow bitterness to swallow him but instead forgave those who hurt him most. And Joseph never took the credit for interpreting dreams, administrating wisely, or saving the world from famine. No, he chose to give God all the glory.
Moses also chose to follow God. Rather than live comfortably in the palace, he identified with his people. Rather than becoming bitter through the long wilderness years, Moses received God’s call and responded in obedience by going back to Egypt. Rather than allowing his past failures and his present insecurities to limit the possibilities, Moses chose to trust God’s promises and step out in faith. And in so doing, he experienced some of the greatest miracles that have ever occurred.
These men could have done other things; could have responded in other ways; they could have forsaken God and his call upon their lives. Instead they consistently chose the way of faith and those choices determined the destination they reached.
As someone once said, “Life is a matter of choices not chances.” The choices you and I face may be quite similar to those Joseph and Moses faced.
Will you become bitter or choose to forgive?
Will you be angry or move to acceptance?
Will you try to be in control or practice benevolent detachment?
Will you follow the world’s ways or follow the Lord’s ways?
Will you live in comfortable compromise or painful obedience?
What choices will you make in 2025?
My prayer for you and me is that we will choose to follow Christ, to listen to His voice, and to love him above all else. My prayer is that we would do what Jesus calls us to do: “To seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” When we do, everything else we need will be added to us along the way.
Blessings in this new year,
+Chris