365
We all know - or at least most of us do - that there are 365 days in a year. But what I bet many people do not know is that there is a phrase used 365 times in the bible. That phrase talks about not fearing.
Recently I read a story about a criminal who was arrested for a crime he had committed. He stood before the king, ready to receive his punishment. There were two choices: he could be hung by a rope or take what was behind a dark, scary, mysterious and tall iron door. When the king asked him what his choice was, he replied, “the rope.”
As the noose was being slipped around the criminal’s neck, he asked the king, “Please tell me what’s behind the door as I am going to die anyhow.”
The king laughed and replied, “it’s crazy, but I always offer everyone the same choice and almost inevitably, everyone chooses the rope.”
The criminal persisted, “So tell me then, what’s behind the door?”
The king thought for a moment and then answered with a simple word, “Freedom".” He continued, “but most people are afraid of the unknown and what’s beyond so they take the choice of the rope.”
Metaphorically speaking, many people walk in their everyday lives with ropes around their neck; whether it be in pain, a struggle or the unknown of the future. According to Alan Watts, “our lives are one long effort to resist the unknown.”
But we don’t have to be spiritually, creatively or emotionally dead to the world we live in. Each day counts. And thus, the phrase from the bible reminds us, '“Do not be afraid” - 365 times. We need to start living our lives that way as a daily reminder.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me? Psalm 56:3-4
There are countless other verses - here are a few to get you started for the week and the challenge is to find a new one for each day of 2023!
Isaiah 41:10. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. ...
Psalm 23:4
Psalm 46:1-3
Psalm 118:6
John 14:27
Deuteronomy 31:6
Isaiah 41:13