There
was a time when people read books that were made of paper and that
you could carry around. I remember seeing many a person reading a
book on the metro trains as they traveled to and from work or
shopping. It was interesting to notice that many of the books were
covered so you could not see what they were reading. In some cases,
it may have been to hide the title of the book from public view or
some may have done it simply to protect the covers of the book.
Whatever the reason, you couldn't tell what they were reading. Who
knows, someone could have been reading a copy of the Bible. Daniel
6:13 says, “Then
answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the
children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor
the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times
a day.”
The prophet Daniel never hid what he was doing even when
it was contrary to the laws of the people of Babylon. Many of
Daniel's enemies knew this and so in effect made a law that would end
up getting rid of the Hebrew prophet. Daniel, however, was faithful
to God in all that he did and so continued doing what he always did
and prayed openly to God three times a day and he did it so all could
see that he was doing it. He didn't try to cover it up. It ended up
with Daniel being placed in the den of lions but God took care of
that and Daniel walked out the next day unharmed in any way. It is
far better to be faithful to the One True God than to follow after
the ways of the world. At this time, in this culture, in this
nation, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have no open persecution
that would end up causing one to lose their life over begin faithful
to God. That is not to say that things might change in the future.
There is a good chance that they will which will result in more open
persecution of believers than ever before. What embarrasses you
these days that would tell others that you are a Christian? It is
getting to the point in this time of history that paper books are
getting more and more rare as people now have their reading material
on their phones or other portable electronic devices. It seems as if
the culture today is bent over reading something from their “phone.”
At a table with four men from a construction detail, three of them
were reading something on their phones as fingers moved up and down
from page to page. Only one man, an older man, was not on a phone
but of course he no one to talk to. One man made the comment that
if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough
evidence to convict you? Do you care more about what people think
about you and feel that you might be embarrassed if you were seen
doing something that “Christians” do? Would our daily routine be
different if it were seen by others? In our family, we have said
grace before meals for as long as I can remember and it didn't make
any difference if we were at home or in the middle of a restaurant.
We have also had the opportunity to ask the waiter or waitress if
they had a prayer request and then prayed for them during the prayer
of grace. Joshua made it pretty clear what he and his family were
going to be doing when he said, as for me and my house we will serve
the LORD. That should be our attitude today. We should not be
concerned about the others around us and what they are doing, but be
true and faithful to God Who sent His Son to die on the cross at
Calvary for our sins and that includes you and me. Praise God today
the we can be a witness to the world around us of the faith that we
have in the one and true God.
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