DEFIANT OBEDIENCE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

Daniel 6:10-11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever heard of an oxymoron?

It’s a rather odd word and although you may not know the meaning, you surely have heard examples, odd word combinations like same difference, deafening silence, jumbo shrimp, living dead, or virtual reality, just to name a few.

Through these models, you can see that an oxymoron is simply a pairing of words that are seemingly contradictory and we’re having the discussion because in today’s devotion, we find Daniel displaying an oxymoron that is not only central to our scripture passage but to our faith lives here in the 21st century as well. Look again at our verses from Daniel 6:

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.  Daniel 6:10-11

In yesterday’s devotion, we found the administrators and satraps under King Darius scheming against Daniel who was about to be elevated to power over the entire kingdom. Unable to find anything to bring against Daniel because of his perfect integrity and faithfulness, the deceitful leaders convinced Darius to declare an edict that would place Daniel in a place where he would have to go against his God, something they knew he would never do.

How did the leaders pull off they plan?

Through the scriptures, we know they told the king that all the administrators and satraps were in agreement on the decree, a lie because they never consulted Daniel, the target of their plot. And so taking his leaders at their word, Darius issued the edict in writing and signed it which in biblical times made the law binding and unable to be repealed.

This brings us to our scripture passage for today where we find Daniel, fully aware of the decree Darius has issued, doing what the administrators and satraps expected. For he continued to do what we have seen him do through this entire book that bears his name, remain faithful to the God he loves and faithfully follows, no matter the cost. And in this case, the cost was a trip to the lion’s den to be lunch for the hungry carnivores.

Scripture tells us that Daniel “went home to his upstairs room”, knelt down three times a day “where the windows opened toward Jerusalem”, and “prayed, giving thanks to his God” and asking Him for help.  Through his actions, we find an oxymoron because Daniel was displaying defiant obedience, defiant against the edict of Darius while being obedient to the God he served.

And this is where those scheming against Daniel found him. More on what happened there tomorrow but we’re not done with God’s message just yet for He is speaking powerfully to all of us today, calling us to be like Daniel in adopting a spirit of defiant obedience in our own lives. For the world today is ever contradicting with the will and word of God and we so often find ourselves smack dab in the middle of it all.

How do you respond when you find yourself at the crossroads of complying with a worldly demand or defiantly remaining obedient to the Lord?

I believe through the story of Daniel, we can be inspired to boldly stay loyal to the Lord, no matter the cost, trusting Him to watch over us, protect us, and ultimately deliver us from whatever consequences our faithfulness unto Him brings. Over the next couple devotions, we will see yet another example of how that kind of trust always pays off.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com