Under God?Sample

Under God?

Have you ever been around someone under the influence of alcohol? It affects the way they think, the decisions they make, what they think is funny, the way they talk, who looks attractive to them, their behavior, and what they love. Alcohol lowers their guard and makes them more vulnerable. But drunk people are usually terrible judges of how drunk they really are.

What if we’re more under the influence of culture than the influence of God? Do we look like everybody else? Are we entertained by the same things? Laugh at the same jokes? Do we raise our kids the same way? Spend our time like everyone else? Spend our money like everyone else? Base our morals on what culture says is okay?

If there’s little difference between the way you live and everyone else around you (besides where you spend an hour a week on Sunday), you might be under the influence of culture and not realize it.

Daniel made some culture-defying choices as a young man that made his life so amazing he has his own Old Testament book. Daniel was born as a Jew in Jewish culture but lived most of his life in the incredibly powerful culture of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar defeated his nation and dragged off the best and brightest into a systematic training program designed to strip them of everything that made them Jewish and turn them into Babylonians. They changed these Hebrew teenage boys’ names from names that honored the true God Yahweh to names that honored pagan gods. They changed their language. They changed their clothes. They changed the food they ate. They taught them their history, their philosophy, their sciences, their everything. The Babylonians had an intentional plan to change the way Daniel thought, believed, and behaved. But Daniel 1:8 says Daniel resolved himself to live under God.

If we’re going to live faithfully under God in a culture that’s opposed to God, we’re going to have to make some predetermined resolutions too. The gentle drift of compromise lures us out from under God’s will. The driving force of media and false worldviews leads us to believe things that simply aren’t in line with God’s truth.

Warning: If you choose to live under God rather than under culture, people will laugh at you, people will pressure you, and some won’t understand. But I’m not worried when I’m persecuted. I’m worried when I’m not persecuted because that means I’m blending in.

I’d rather be remembered for standing out than forgotten by blending in.

In what areas do you need to resolve to live under God? Maybe for you it’s not defiling your body with too much alcohol or too much food. Maybe not defiling your mind with pornography. Maybe not doing things God designed for married people to enjoy with anyone you’re not married to. Maybe eliminating shows, music, movies, games, or online entertainment you can’t picture Jesus being entertained by. Maybe only using language you’d use in front of your pastor (or your grandma, whoever you respect more). Maybe fully engaging in church by living generously, dying to self, and serving and loving others. Ask God. After all, He already knows exactly which areas of your life aren’t under His authority.

Pray: God, You’re my King, my Lord, my Master, my Supreme Ruler, and my Righteous Judge. Help me identify the ways that my lifestyle is under the influence of my culture. I want to live fully and completely under You no matter what the cost. In Jesus’ name, amen.