AS WE LOOK TOWARD 2010

Does it seem to you that things around us are unraveling more quickly than ever? I’m not talking just about the economy and international affairs, I’m talking about how quickly people’s lives unravel. How could we have predicted the speed with which Tiger Woods’ personal life has fallen apart? A few short weeks ago he seemed the consummate good guy, a family man, and the best-known sports figure in the world…and now…what a mess!

I always get a little bit reflective as we come toward the end of one year and look toward the beginning of the new. As I have been thinking about personally preparing for 2010 and mentally wrestling to understand what is going on in our world, I have found myself frequently going to the book of Daniel: “Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine…” (1:8). Daniel and his friends had been kidnapped and taken from their homes in Israel to live in Babylon and were being prepared for life in the court of Nebuchadnezzar.

There are two words in verse 8 that I want you to be familiar with. The first is “resolved” which is translated “purposed” in older versions of Scripture. The use of the word here means that Daniel had an opinion or a philosophy that was firm, well established, immovable. The second word is “defile” and it means to be polluted or stained. Pollution is often invisible but that doesn’t make it any less deadly.

Daniel’s resolve was not about food and wine. I repeat—this is not about food and drink but about the lifestyle that they were symbolic of. Daniel was not down on Nebuchadnezzar, a certifiable mad man, nor was he advocating a specific dietary structure. Daniel was just making sure that he did not get entangled in a philosophy of life that would destroy his relationship with God.

I believe that Daniel’s resolve was birthed out of the concern, “How do I maintain my life with God while living in this pagan community?” The conclusion Daniel arrived at is valuable for us today.

While our society is unraveling and becoming more violent and volatile, it continues to become increasingly secular, and the invisible pollution of secularism intensifies. This is the air we breathe every day! How do we continue breathing this and not be polluted?

Daniel saw what was going on around him and came to a simple point of resolve. He and his friends chose to put the Lord first in everything, but that choice would not be without its challenges. Daniel ended up being thrown into a den of lions because he would not compromise his desire to honor God, and his friends were thrown into the fireplace because they refused to worship at the feet of the prevailing idols of their day. However, all these young men experienced the protection of God that was released unto them because they chose to honor Him and put Him first in their lives.

Daniel and his friends continually saw the favor and blessing of the Lord upon their lives while they lived in Babylon. Their testimonies were not destroyed because they dwelt in a hostile environment; in fact, the opposite was true. These Jewish immigrants lived their lives honorably and made an impact in the Babylonian culture. Nebuchadnezzar made this statement when the three Hebrews walked out of the fiery furnace unscathed: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated [set aside] the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God” (Daniel 3:28 NKJV).

I believe the key to Daniel’s success is found in Daniel 1:8. Had Daniel not made this commitment of spirit unto the Lord, there would have been no success in the fire pit. Instead, there would have been three kosher charcoal briquettes, Daniel would have been lunch for hungry lions, and the prophecies of Daniel would never have been written.

Daniel purposed/resolved to honor God as first in his life and when he did, it unleashed the plan of God for his life. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). When this Scripture speaks of “His kingdom,” it is referring to His kingly rule in our lives; “righteousness” means that we seek to do that which pleases Him. In response to this “resolve,” He pledges with covenant faithfulness to respond to the seeker.

Getting ready to go into 2010, I am not going to make any New Year’s resolutions. What I am going to do, however, is refresh my commitment to make Him first in my life. The greatest security we can have in an unraveling and polluting world is the protection of God’s plan being fully played out in our lives. The toxic savagery of a world system falling apart cannot destroy the purpose for which God created you, and honoring Him and living fully in His plan for you brings His hand of grace and protection.