“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.” – Daniel 1:8
It’s mind-blowing to grasp the magnitude in which God generates greatness. Lowly people, like ourselves, have the capacity to transcend ordinary and be catapulted into extraordinary for the glory of His Kingdom.
And as much as Daniel’s 10-day fast from the royal buffet table resulted in matchless connectedness to God, it all began with the prophet’s desire to stay true to his convictions.
Conviction is rare these days.
Not very many people live according to strong convictions, especially strong godly ones. We live in a world where absolutes are relative and, because of the focus on “me”, humanity continually spirals down a road of selfishness and the need to wrongfully desire detrimental undertakings. We live in a world where the popular opinion, rather than God’s truths, lead the conversation.
There was no way that Daniel was going to allow Nebuchadnezzar’s lavish requirements to water down what he knew to be true of God. Daniel wasn’t going to defile himself with the king’s ridiculous requirements. And, because of Daniel’s convictions, God rewarded him with eminence in learning and a connectedness to Him like no other.
Bottom line: When God’s people are in “Babylon”, when we are in the kingdoms of this world, we need to take special care to not partake in her sins.
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My friend and I constantly discuss our convictions. I call them our road signs of life. I’ve learned (the hard way) that deviating from God’s word places us on the path of consequences and destruction. It is so easy to spiral “down a road of selfishness and the need to wrongfully desire detrimental undertakings” especially when I become lax in my daily devotions with God’s word. To heed our convictions means to relinquish the things we are consumed with. For me, it was t.v., Facebook, Twitter, etc. On some days my convictions ring loudly and on other days I am deaf to them. It is in these moments of deafness that I place myself in solitude and fill my ears/eyes with the word.
(I am very grateful that you are sharing your gift of writing with us!)
Nannette – Thanks for your transparency in your struggle to stay true to your convictions. Lord knows, we need more followers of Jesus living honest, transparent lives. I think, if more Christians owned up to their struggles, more people would connect with God a lot more. I love your desire to send yourself into solitude to blanket yourself with the Word. It’s a great way to get our spiritual wheels realigned. Now, imagine if we ran into solitude with God more often, even during times when life isn’t rough. Imagine if we hung out with God just because it’s Monday. My bet is that we’d see a lot more amazingly divine movements than what we’re used to.
I love the powerful translation of this blog! Nannette, you could not have said it any better. Living in a world where there are distractions everywhere we go, it’s so easy to slip off that path. It’s times like fasting where we can strip away distractions at it’s fullest and listen to God.