Purpose

       I seem to always be on a diet of one type or another.  If there is a new diet, I will probably have tried it.  I have been on "calorie" diets, Atkins diets, South Beach diets, New Testament Diet, Cruise diet and probably a few others.  I like to cook and I like to sample what I cook.  So, I am constantly battling the "battle of the bulge."  There are millions of people who look for a new way or at least an easy way in which to lose weight.  One of the problems is we want our cake and eat it too.  There is an interesting passage in the Scriptures concerning a "vegetarian" diet.   Daniel 1:8 says, " But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."   
       Daniel and his friends were being transported to Babylon to serve Nebuchadnezzar.  Before they were presented to the king, they were to be fed the diet of the area which was going to include the kings meat and the kings wine.  Daniel and his friends made a proposition to the man in charge of them.  They wanted nothing to do with the kings food.  Instead, they simply wanted vegetables, or "pulse" as it says in the KJV, and water to drink.  When it came time to be presented to the king, the Scriptures report, "And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.  Some things for us to notice in this passage is that "Daniel purposed in his heart."  Daniel had already come to the conclusion that he was not going to follow the rules of the king, but the rules of God.  How many situations exist in our own lives where we have the choice to go with the flow of the world or to stand firm on the convictions of God's Word?  In thinking about those convictions, whom or what are we going to honor, God or the world system at that time?  We all know what took place in the lives of Daniel and his friends.  They were head and shoulders above the rest of the captives.  They stood out because they had decided to honor God above all the rest, no matter what.  God is always faithful to those who will take a stand on His Word.  So, how are you going to decide today in the matter that comes into your life/  Will you "purpose" in your heart to do or to not do something and thereby honor God, or will you take the route of submitting to the world?  Praise God today for the strength that He gives each day , hour and minute to follow His way in all things.