Decide on the meaning of the title.
Contents
♡♥♡ Make up your mind. / Dan 1:8-16
*** Introduction
We have a lot of thoughts at this time of year. As I look back on the past, I may feel regret and satisfaction, or bitterness or anger. And as I think about the coming new year, I think of the wishes I want to achieve. In this process, people decide, 'I have to do this!', 'I will fix this', 'I will not do this.' Even if it becomes ‘Jaksim 3 days’, you will make a decision.
Johann Wesley's mother, Susanna Wesley, is considered one of the greatest mothers in the world. A story is told while teaching a stubborn daughter who does not listen to her parents during an anecdote. Susanna planned one thing to change her daughter's mind.
Susanna prepared the charcoal to be one beautiful one. And I asked my daughter to hug the charcoal. Of course, the daughter refused. mother,
“These charcoals are not hot, so there is no risk of burning.”
He told me to hug him. daughter,
“But don’t you get your hands dirty?”
He said why he couldn't hold it. At that time, ‘Susanna’
“That’s the point. Human actions do not cause burns, but there are also actions that make hands and chest dirty.”
He said that he made her decide to abandon her wrong behavior while making her realize her daughter's wrong behavior.
Decisions are also essential in our life of faith. And you have to express that decision. Because if you make a decision only with your heart, it is easy to give up on execution when you run into a certain environment. That's why Romans 10:10 says, "With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made, resulting in salvation."
In the text, ‘Daniel’, a man of faith, appears. Daniel was taken captive when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, invaded Judea. Daniel was about 15 years old at the time. Nebuchadnezzar selected brilliant minds from the vassal state to effectively rule the vassal state and gave them special education for three years. They were treated with the highest courtesy, given the king's appointed food, and all necessities. Daniel and his three friends were also selected and received special Babylonian education.
But there was a problem. Daniel saw that at every meal there was a food forbidden by the law. Daniel asked the eunuch, the general overseer who taught them, ‘that they would not be defiled by food.’ God was gracious to Daniel and his three friends.
The eunuch said to Daniel, who demanded only vegetarian food, 'If you do that, your health will deteriorate, and you will be rebuked by the king for this.' At that time, Daniel said, 'I will be judged through a trial period of ten days and then I will receive my punishment.' The result was that Daniel's group, which was only vegetarian, was healthier than the others who ate all the food. In the end, Daniel's request was granted, and he was spared from breaking the law through food.
Daniel received favor from God, and he also received favor from the chief of the eunuch. Not only that, he received the approval of Nebuchadnezzar and ascended to the position of prime minister, and he also received the favor of King Belshazzar, who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar, and King Darius of Mede, who overthrew Babylon, and became prime minister. How did he become such a prosperous and blessed person?
The Bible clearly shows the cause. Let's look at verse 8. “Daniel decided not to defile himself with the king's delicacies and with the wine he drank.” This is clearly a rebellion against the king's orders and a challenge. It could be dead. However, the determination of faith toward God could not stop all the commands and fears.
Even in the time of King Darius, he became a prime minister trusted and loved by the king, earning the envy of Medean officials. The Mede officials investigated Daniel's back. But there were no moral flaws, and nothing was found to take bribes or harm the king. Then, using Daniel's service as an excuse, they appealed to the king, 'If you bow down to or ask someone other than the king for 30 days, you are thrown into the lions' den,' and a ban was issued. Even then, Daniel's determination did not change. 6:10. “Even though Daniel knew that this decree had been signed, he went back to his house and looked at the window that was opened toward Jerusalem in that room, and he knelt down three times a day, praying and giving thanks to God, just as he had done before.”
Eventually, he was thrown into the lions' den. But God did not abandon Daniel, who trusted in him even there. Not only Daniel but also Daniel's three friends had a great determination of faith. Even in the crisis of being thrown into the furnace, their determination of faith toward God did not waver.
The fullness of God's grace is given to those who do not change their determination to turn to God in any circumstance or circumstance. Isaiah 26:3. “You will keep in peace those whose hearts are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Also, in the second half of 1 Samuel 2:30, God said, “… Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me I will despise.”
Daniel and his three friends respected God. He valued keeping the word of God more precious than protecting his own life. And he showed that determination of faith in his life. God protected and guided those who respected and trusted Him.
God's will does not change. This means that the word applies to us now as well. The social structure of our country is making it difficult to maintain our faith. There is no special persecution or persecution, but on the contrary, the free life and culture itself makes the faith more indolent. In times like these, it is more difficult to keep the faith than when there is persecution. If you just turn your eyes, you can see the pleasures of the world, and if you put your mind to it, you can enjoy them as much as you want. Because our body fundamentally seeks peace and pleasure, it is very difficult to overcome the temptations of the world.
There is a famous book called 'The Devil's Letter' by the author 'Lewis'. In this book, the author depicts the human mind with a superb sense. Its contents are as follows.
An old English gentleman visits the library of the British Empire one day. The old gentleman had a habit of stopping by the library once a week. That day too, the old gentleman stopped by the library. After looking through this book, I picked up a book on the Christian faith. The old gentleman was reading a book and suddenly thoughts about God began to sprout in his mind.
“Who is he? What relationship should I have with him?”
At that moment, the devil comes to the old gentleman who is thinking like this. The devil says in his mind:
“It’s lunchtime, what do you think?”
At that moment, the old gentleman presses down the thought of God that he had been thinking about for a while and goes to the restaurant. While eating lunch, I suddenly thought of God again.
“Who really is God? What relationship should I have with him?”
At this time, the devil whispers in his heart again, and the old gentleman mumbles:
“What do you think makes you sick while eating? Let's finish dinner first."
finished eating. God's thoughts are trying to come out vaguely again. But the old gentleman says this because of the tempting intervention of the devil.
“What is that? It's a possible thought. I'm too busy today. I have a lot of work to do when I get home.”
He goes out and gets on the bus. As if sitting on the bus seat and reading the newspaper, as if nothing had happened, who had never experienced any stimulation or change, he boarded the bus and returned home as usual. But behind this old gentleman, the devil was wearing a “smile of conversion.”
Satan never leaves those who seek the truth and try to live according to God's will. It finds the most sensitive and weak parts of a person and seduces them. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves so that Satan does not tempt us through our weaknesses. In Colossians 2:20-21, God says, “If you have died with Christ in the elementary learnings of the world, why do you obey questions as if you were living in the world? That is, do not hold on to it, do not taste it, and do not touch it.” We must avoid temptations. If you face that temptation by saying, 'It's okay because I have strong faith!', there will be only disastrous defeat.
Just as Eve stopped eating after seeing the forbidden fruit, when confronted with temptation, she cannot overcome her fleshly desires boiling over. Just as Joseph resisted the temptation of Madame Potiphar and ran away, so temptation must be avoided. And, like Daniel, you must have a clear determination toward God.
Now that the year is coming to an end and preparing for the new year, I pray that it will be a sure end and a bold start by solidifying the determination of faith toward God.