# Be Ready - Wednesday, 2025.12.17 On a regular basis, the governments of the world add new decrees, executive orders, laws, ordinances, rules, etc . They also eliminate some (just to keep us hopeful). With all this legal upheaval, it can be challenging to stay up-to-date on what the government requires of us. Then of course, there is the Bible. The Old Testament hasn't changed in over 2400 years and the New Testament hasn't changed in almost 500 years. Despite the Bible's age far exceeding any living human, how many people actually know what it says about any given topic??? For example, Peter says in Acts 5.29b, “We must obey God rather than men." What did Peter mean by that statement? Does the principle still apply today? How would you decide what human laws you will defy in favor or God's laws? Based on Luke 2.1-3, it seems Joseph as well as everyone else in the Roman Empire was required to return to their respective home towns in order to be counted. However, Mary was nine months pregnant and due any day. Surely they could have gotten a note from her doctor saying she couldn't travel. Apparently not! So, Joseph had a tough decision to make. Was he going to comply with the Roman Empire order and force Mary to travel or was he going to put his foot down and tell them NO? If Joseph had chosen the later, in addition to standing in the way of Old Testament prophecy about Jesus' birthplace, Joseph probably would have been executed! Anyone alive during the end-times will have many very tough decisions to make!! If you don't know God's Word AND very importantly how to "think critically" about His Word, how will you make those decisions? Among many end-times passages that will require life or death decisions is Revelation 13. Will you follow God's Word, or what the beast commands? God's Word or whatever Taylor Swift says? How about Patrick Mahomes (BTW, I hope he heals quickly) or Rick Warren or Elon Musk or any of the other "influencers? Let me know if you want help learning how to think critically about God's Word.