To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

 

 

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.

 

What does being "resolved" mean?  When you and I are resolved, we are committed to a course of action; we are devoted to principle.  Daniel resolved not to defile himself.  He was devoted to God’s principles.  He was committed to a course of action.  He was determined not to defile himself by giving in to anything the pagan Babylonian king commanded.

 

Most Christians would not hesitate to say, "I want God’s will in my life," or "I want to live my life in accordance with God’s Word."  But just making this kind of statement doesn’t mean that the person is resolved to stand by that statement.  Resolve means backing up our words with action.  Resolve means being totally, one hundred percent committed to doing what God says.  Making that resolve requires a lot more than just commitment.  It requires knowing what God’s word says.  It requires learning how to know what God’s will is.  It requires a commitment, not only of our own resolve, but to studying the word daily in order to avoid being swayed.

 

Our lives are filled with a daily onslaught of pressure from Satan to do what he wants us to do.  Just turn on your television for thirty minutes and watch virtually any program, from the nightly news to the majority of sitcoms.  Or talk to your co-workers.  Or watch a movie.  Or read a secular book.  Or listen to many of our national leaders.  Everything around us is filled with ideas and philosophies designed specifically to sway you and me away from God’s word and toward destruction.  Unless you and I know exactly what God has to say about each and every matter - large and small - in life, we will be swayed away from the truth and into the lie.

 

Don’t just give lip service to wanting to do God’s will in your life.  Be resolved.  And then begin to study God’s word today so that you will always know what He would and would not have you do.