DARE!!!

Daniel 1:8 – “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.”

There is a well-known saying I particularly like. It says, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” This is indeed very true. It is very important for every person to have a set of principles and resolves that guide his or her everyday life. Just take a brief moment and imagine what your life would be like if you lived care-free, without any form of principle to guide your life. I just thought about it and I think my life would be a total mess because I’d be like a plant with no roots that the wind can carry anywhere it pleases; and that’s not good for business (lol) because then I'd land anywhere the wind blows me to, and in reality, that could be a really dangerous thing. In other words, I’ll have no mind of my own.

There is great power in the existence of resolve and principles. When we have principles, we have purpose. We know what we want and we are not easily swayed by any wind of change or doctrine. This is good for business (lol) because then, you will know where you are headed to and no “wind” will successfully blow you to just anywhere.

Look back at the verse above. Daniel RESOLVED… he knew what he wanted, and there was no room for rationalizing or debating. He knew that as a chosen child of God, food offered to idols was not what he should be eating. You may say that yes, the food was served to idols, but the vegetables he asked for also came from the King’s palace! Yes, I agree, but I believe that this resolve was guided by God and that his decision to ask for vegetables was connected with God and maybe even with the dieting laws of Israel at that time.  Now back to the pointJ. There are two main lessons that this one verse taught me:

Number one – Having strong resolve over little issues like food reduces the struggle to keep resolves over bigger issues. If you cannot be principled over very little issues, when big issues come, you will be like a plant without roots; you will not be able to stand. Even the Bible says that he who is faithful with little things… so, do you find yourself needing resolve in a little issue in your life? It could be food J too. Hahaha. Start now.

Number two – Daring to take a stand FIRST has the “domino effect”. If you’ve played dominoes, when the dominoes are arranged, if the first one is pushed, it falls on the one next to it which falls on the one next to it like that until the last domino is fallen. That is the domino effect. From the verses (if you read further) we see that the three Hebrew friends refused to eat the king’s food but rather vegetables. However, it was actually Daniel who first made the resolve not to eat the king’s food and I’m sure when the other Hebrew boys heard of it, decided to make the same resolve too. This taught me a very important lesson. It taught me that sometimes I need to DARE to make the right decision and by so doing, is able to spur others to make the same decision as me. This may not always happen, and I may be left alone with my resolve, but I am not alone, the host of heaven are standing with me.

I am to make the change. I am to be the change. So are you! Your decisions should spur others to do what’s right! And so I challenge you to dare to stand out and make/be the change! Remember that the change you desire begins with you.

God is counting on you.

I leave you with the words of this chorus, "Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose oh, oh, dare to make it known!"

DARE!!!

References:

The Holy Bible (NIV)

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