One of my goals for 2021 is to read the entire Bible. I’m part of a group of ladies at my church who are committed to doing this.

I’ve started year-long Bible reading plans before, but the longest I made it through was to October, and I also had a fairly good chunk of March and April’s passages that had been put on the back burner. I remember hurriedly trying to read through November and December to make up for lost time, but there was little gained in the way of true understanding through the rush of just trying to cross it off the list, and that’s the antithesis of Bible study.

Maybe I can make it the entire way this time. Being part of a group sure makes me more accountable to following through on a commitment. If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution, make it in a group and stick to it. Do those burpees and 10,000 steps together. You’ll be more likely to make it through.

But enough about me. Enough about us.

Today’s reading was from Genesis 4-7, the part of the story where humanity’s fracture from God intensifies. Evil is active in the world, seeping its way into people’s lives and wrecking all those who do not choose to turn and follow God.

The world is increasingly divided into two camps: those who follow God and those who do not.

There is no in between.

There is a choice.

God did not create us to lead us around by the nose. In His goodness, He created us to have the freedom to choose how we want to live our lives. Sure, there are circumstances that we are born into that exert a large degree of influence over us. But once we know of God’s great love for us and the offer of His salvation through His Son, the choice is ours to make.

Do we accept His grace?

Do we believe in His power?

Do we ask for forgiveness?

Or do we reject the offer?

As I was reading the passage, a song came to mind, and once I get a song stuck in my head it stays there a good long while. “Which Side Are You On?” was written by Florence Patton Reece during a miners’ strike in Kentucky in 1931. Her husband Sam was on the run after being alerted that Sheriff J.H. Blair and his men had been hired by the mining company to hunt him down. The group of men entered her home with her and her children present, terrorizing them. Later that night, after the men had left, Mrs. Reece wrote the words to the song, setting them to the tune of an old Baptist hymn. The song has been used as a rallying cry for working folks and those fighting oppression ever since, with some writers changing lyrics and creating additional ones to suit their purposes. The repetition of the primary lyric, however, when combined with a very memorable minor melody, is one that attaches itself quite easily to the mind and the heart.

I propose that we adjust some lyrics and make this song our anthem as we choose to serve God with wholehearted devotion now and for the rest of our lives. May our commitment be genuine and not mere lip service we give at the start of a New Year.

May we choose to be firmly on His side.

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Which Side Are You On?—my version

Which side are you on, children?

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on, children?

Which side are you on?

They say in this old wicked world

A choice is very clear:

You’ll either love the one true God

Or reject His grace so dear.

My God is strong and mighty,

And I’m his faithful one.

He’ll be with all who call upon

His name ‘til vic’try’s won.

Oh tell me, can you stand it?

This world so filled with sin!

Will you be a lousy scab

Or will you turn to Him?

Come all, who want to listen,

Good news to you I’ll tell

Of how the blessed Savior

Down in your heart will dwell.

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on?

Which side are you on?