Day 10: The Nature of Integrity Today's reading is drawn from Daniel 1:1-16 EVERY ONE OF US will come to a fork in the road—not just once, but many times in our lives. When we come to a fork, sometimes there are great banners waving, directing us to follow one route as opposed to the other. That route is wide and well trafficked. The other is narrow and rugged. When you come to a fork like that, you make a decision. Then the route you choose leads to yet other forks in the road. Moses came to one of those forks when he became great: He had to decide whether he would allow people to call him the pharaohinwaiting or not (Heb. 11:24; see Exod. 2:1-10). Later, here in Daniel 1, we read about how Daniel the Hebrew is offered the excesses of the Babylonian lifestyle. This man has integrity. He comes to a fork in the road and makes a decision for the Lord. He is willing to give up whatever is necessary, essentially saying, “We will not eat the king’s food—the Lord alone has my highest allegiance.” Later, Daniel faces another fork in the road, and because of his persistent integrity, he winds up in a den of lions (Dan. 6). In the events leading up to that intimidating, frightening scene, he still does not crack. As I think about these decisions made by uncompromising saints, I reflect on the nature of integrity. True integrity means that you do what is right when no one is looking and when no one even cares. We are living, for example, in a day of marital compromise. When a marriage commitment falls flat, society says to just get a divorce. We live in a day when there has been a breakdown of integrity in the trades—shoddy, superficial work is done just to get money out of another unwitting customer. We live in a day when people carelessly steal words from other people and present them as their own—plagiarism. Real integrity stays in place whether the test is adversity or prosperity, weakness or power. Real integrity remains whether you are a simple, hardworking individual in obscurity or you sit in the Oval Office. I want to challenge you with the life of Daniel. I want you to see the practical value of a life of integrity. If you let God take your life and give you guidelines for how you live, you will be living for His glory. If you think that this will make you a dull, unattractive, or ineffective kind of person, you’ve missed the message of Daniel’s life. In God’s power, not his own, Daniel came out on top. Like Daniel, when you do what is right, you will sometimes be misunderstood and maligned even if you are as pure as can be. However, you will become a powerful instrument in the hand of God. It is never too late to start doing what is right and living with integrity. Because we are failures and sinners, we all have had things in our pasts that have not been marked by integrity. Leave the past behind (see 1 Pet. 4:1-5). Begin to live an intentionally clean life before God with no compromise to your Christian identity and values, and He will give you freedom and power that you cannot possibly imagine. [call out text: It is never too late to start living with integrity. God will give you freedom and power that you cannot possibly imagine.] |
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