June 12, 2011 … True Integrity Worships THE God

Passage of the Day: Daniel 3: 1 – 3 … 1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

My Journal for Today: Moving to Chapter 3 of the book of Daniel in my study of Christian integrity, we can see that Nebuchadnezzar certainly fits, in the context of today’s text, the “double-minded man” referred to by the Apostle James in James 1: 7 – 8 …

SCRIPTURE: James 1: 7 – 8 ... 7 That man [who prays to God asking for and expecting wisdom] should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel, Chapter Two, had just described Daniel’s God as the “Lord of Kings” (see Daniel 2: 47); and yet, in today’s passage Nebuchadnezzar has a 90+ foot statue built to test the devotion of his people to himself. Now, as mature Christians, we would probably judge the king and say, “How foolish!” And we would likely label this as blatant idolatry. But before we do, we need to look in God’s mirror of truth to see if we have built idols into our lives which can (or could) potentially separate us from our worship of the one, true, and only God. Therefore, before we point our fingers of blame at Nebuchadnezzar, let us look deeply and honestly at our own lives to see if there are any cultural magnets, personal habits, or worldly “stuff,” which are prioritized in our lives to draw our allegiance away from God or to dampen the intensity of our covenant relationship with our Lord. If so, we have a “statue” which we need to bring down which stands between us and God. We have an idol in our lives which diminishes our Christian integrity.

As the Apostle Paul wrote in Col. 3: 5, we need to be vigilant to bring down any or all things which draw us into self/sin and away from our Savior. And the beloved Apostle John said that any lust of the flesh, of the eyes, or of pridefulness could keep us from showing our love of God [see and MEMORIZE 1st John 2: 15 – 16].

As I write this, I’m taking stock of my life to see if any “statues” are building in my life to take my eyes off of God and thereby diminish my integrity or life worship as a Christian. Perhaps it would be wise for you, my fellow worshipper of the one, true God, to do the same.

My Prayer Today: I love YOU, Lord; and I pray that my life has no idols to distract me. If so, reveal them clearly so that I can set them aside as I attempt to worship you with the way I live. Amen