Resolve

Resolve is a strong word that means to be devoted to principal and to be committed to a course of action.

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission to defile himself this way. 

(Daniel 1:8)

Have you ever had to say no to a group of friends or maybe even some people at work because they were doing something you didn't feel comfortable experiencing? This hasn't been the case with anyone I've ever worked with, but sometimes with friends at certain periods of my life.

There were times were I resolved and times I didn't. I will tell you this, the times I resolved were powerful because I could feel that God was showing his favor.

I think back to a pretty funny story actually...I was a freshmen in high school and it was towards the end of October. There is a scream park about 20 minutes from my hometown called Scream-acres. I had never been there before. I had just heard about it from my friends and upperclassmen I went to school with.

I remember when my mom finally agreed to take me and my friends. I was so excited and felt so grown up. Unfortunately we didn't get there till about 9:30 at night which is fairly late. My mom was very particular about what time we had to be back in the car because she sat and there and waited for us.

After about an hour of waiting in line to go through the haunted house, it seemed like we would never get through the line in time. She had told us that not matter what we were leaving at 11:00. My phone hit 11 and we were about 5 people away from going through.

When she called and and told me it was time to leave, I told my friends it was time and they didn't come with me. After some jokes and being made fun, I resolved not to do what they were doing and decided to obey my mom.

So I went outside and sat in the car with her while all my friends went through the maze.

Do you ever think God is just waiting for you to get it?

See, I understood that my mom was going to love me no matter what decision I made that night. But I wanted to make sure I did what was right and obeyed her. I wanted to make a commitment towards obedience.

God loves us when we make mistakes and when we don't. I think it's time that we start to resolve. It's time to devote ourselves to God's principals and be committed to a course of action.

When Daniel resolved himself, he was being true to a lifelong determination to do what was right and to not give in to the pressures around him. We are to often assaulted by pressures to compromise our standards and live more like the world around us.

Merely waning or preferring God's will and way is not enough to stand against the onslaught of temptation. Like Daniel, we must resolve to obey God.