Tues Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.” Daniel 1:8-9 NLT

On April 20, 1999 two teenage gunmen entered Columbine High School and began shooting students at random. Around 11:30 a.m., one of the gunmen confronted Cassie Bernall with one simple question: “do you believe in God?” After a momentary pause, she looked him squarely in the eye and said, “yes.” The gunman replied, “why?” and shot her; killing Cassie instantly.

At that moment, with one word, Cassie Bernall illustrated a principle that every Christian needs to embrace—as followers of Christ, we must not compromise our faith in the midst of persecution. A Biblical model of taking a stand for Christ is revealed through a teenage boy named Daniel. Here's a glance into Daniel's story.

As a teen, Daniel was taken captive to Babylon and selected to be trained as a Babylonian warrior. While in Babylon, Daniel was tested to compromise his beliefs as a follower of God. Read the passage above again. What exactly was Daniel pressured to compromise? Food. Most Christians do not follow Biblical guidelines for foods they can and cannot eat. So what can we learn from Daniel's story? Small compromises lead to big compromises of our faith.

I believe in America today, Christians are faced with many kinds of "small compromises." Whether laws the government declares as just or moral issues, every single day we are tempted to compromise. So this is my challenge to you: read your Bible seriously, and begin to think deeply about the numerous small compromises Christians face in today's society. And ask yourself, "Are you falling into the trap of making small compromises of faith?" Let's always take a stand for Christ.