May 1, 2023: Where Is Your Resolve?

"But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank...(Daniel 1:8, ESV)

The Christian life requires resolve if we are going to be God's 'set apart' people. The world will always be trying to bring us into its bent ways. And the devil will be looking for ways to get us to defile ourselves. The word defile comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to pollute”. For example, who would want to drink polluted water? No one! We would reject it because it contains harmful contaminants that are not helpful to us. Daniel was seeking to avoid becoming spiritually unclean before God. He did not want God to reject him. Therefore he resolved not to defile himself with food that God declared unclean and polluted.

The word resolved comes from a Hebrew word that means “to put,” “to place,” or “to set.”  Some translations say that Daniel determined in his heart not to defile himself. Daniel made a decision on his inside that defined what he did on his outside. 

It is so crucial for Christians to have the resolve not to be defiled by the world's contaminants. To do this requires that we make choices. We chose to take a stand for righteousness. That is resolve. We set our values according to God's word and choose to live by His word. That is resolve. Daniel's life is a beautiful example of how a man lives in a foreign environment, is taught foreign ways, and still makes the right choices in his heart unto God. What is your resolve?