How Will You Be Different Today?

How Will You Be Different Today?

Daniel 1:8-16-NIV
⁸ 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. ⁹ Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, ¹⁰ but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."

¹¹ Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹² "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." ¹⁴ So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

This is part of the text the teenagers looked at Sunday morning. Daniel and his friends were plucked from their home at a young age and forced to learn a new way of life. All the morals and values they were raised with were now in question by the people who had abducted them from their homes. What makes this passage of scripture so teachable is that these young men decided to do what God wanted them to do and not what man wanted them to do.

Consider for a moment how easy it would have been for Daniel and his friends to conform to the world around them. Consider for a moment how easy it would have been for Daniel and his friends to sacrifice their integrity for the fleeting gift of acceptance. Consider for a moment how often Christians conform to the values of this world when God has set such higher standards for his people. While you are considering all of that consider these words from the book of Romans.

Romans 12:1-2-NIV

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Too often all we do is read these words without taking them to heart. Our society has become one of no absolutes; instead of black and white the world sees things in shades of gray. As God’s people we are called to something higher than shades of gray and compromising our morals. Often times I hear people try to justify their complacent attitudes by comparing our society to those of Biblical times. The justification is that we have more avenues of sin than the people of Biblical times. Not only is this justification ridiculous but it is false. We may have different opportunities to sin but the act is sin is the same as it was during Biblical times; and it is just as wrong now as it was then. When considering comparing our society to the societies of Biblical times consider the words of Peter.

1 Peter 1:1-2-NIV

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ²who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Peter was writing to people who were scattered away from their homes not by their own choice. Peter encourages these people through his letter to live a life based not upon their circumstances but upon the providence of God the Father with words like these…

1 Peter 1:13-16-NIV

13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

So, how will you be different today? Maybe you will decide to give up a worldly habit, maybe you will reach out and become a friend to a friendless person or maybe you will take a stand for God when you have failed to in the past. I can’t tell you how to be different, but I can tell you that as Christians we need to be different. The way you decide to be different today is up to you. I encourage you to prayerfully consider how you are living your life and how you can be different today.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul