Most of us do not respond well when things in life get rough.
There are only a few people in the entire Bible who took the bad and the ugly and still responded in the right way.
- Job, Joseph, and Daniel and the three amigos.
MESSAGE:
Context: Israel had finally sinned enough and God sent them into Babylonian exile. many turned away from God but, for some of them, this is what it took for God to get their attention.
Daniel 1:3-8
- He determined not to defile himself by eating the food of the king.
- He made a conscious choice, ahead of time, what he would and wouldn’t do
- Most of us react to the actions of others. by proactively choosing how he would do, he responded intentionally to the actions
- “This is true in life and battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.” Omar Bradley
Daniel 3:16-18
- They yielded themselves fully to God, regardless of consequences.
- We’re driven by fear of “unfavorable” outcomes.
- We’re less value driven, than we are survival driven.
- Jesus said that if anyone wanted to be His follower the first thing we do is turn from selfishness and sacrifice our lives to follow.
Daniel 6:4-10
- He scheduled habits that would keep Him on track.
- This takes a certain amount of discipline not natural to us.