1 Kings 19; Psalm 105; Daniel 1; 1 Thessalonians 2
One of the big questions asks, “What is the purpose of my life?” This is framed in various ways that boil down to “Why am I here?” or for Christians, “What does God want me to do?”
In the OT, the answer came in the Ten Commandments plus the other laws that God gave to His people. While many assume that these were laws defining how they could be saved from sin, this is not the case. Those laws were to define them as God’s covenant people. They were to live differently than the pagans who did not know God and had no relationship with Him.
The NT says the same thing. Those who believe God and are His people through faith in Jesus Christ are to be distinct, living according to the will of God rather than running their lives apart from Him. God’s Word defines the Christian life as well as the life of those who trusted God before Christ came. The difference is that all discovered that they could not fully obey the laws of God. Our sinfulness trips us up and we fall short of His high standards. We need Jesus who became sin for us that we could have His righteousness and be declared just by God.
An OT example of this is Daniel. He was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and chosen for special duties. He and his friends were fed food and wine daily from the king’s table but this food did not conform to the requirements of God’s Laws. It was prepared by Gentiles rendering it unclean. It may have included items forbidden by the Law. It had also been sacrificed and offered to pagan gods before it was offered to the king. God’s people were forbidden to eat anything sacrificed to pagan gods.
The wine was also a problem. The OT forbade “strong drink” so God’s people diluted wine with water, up to 10 parts of water to 1 part of wine but not so the Babylonians. This made both the food and drink forbidden and since Daniel wanted to please God, he resolved that even though he was in a culture that did not follow God’s laws, he would consider himself under the His Law. He requested a trial diet of vegetables (a word that could include grains) and it resulted in him and his friend appearing healthier than those who were on the king’s diet. Not only does this show how God honors those who trust and obey Him, it indicates how living according to the Word of the Lord means living distinctively, not like the rest of those around us.
A NT example is the church at Thessalonica. Paul was thankful for these Christians and expressed how his life and their lives were different and made a difference:
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last! (1 Thessalonians 2:9–16)
Paul lived a blameless life that affected these who believed in Christ. They received God’s Word and followed the godly examples of others. Yet it is important to realize that this life is not always popular! Daniel eventually suffered and nearly died because he followed the will of God. Many Christians experience ridicule, persecution of various forms, and even death because we are living for Christ and not ourselves. As verse 6 says, obedience to God means not seeking glory from people but living so God is glorified.
APPLY: So far, most of the opposition I face is from Satan and his cohorts who have tried all sorts of ways to stop me from prayer and ruin my determination to be a godly person. I’m thankful that the Lord is my refuge and protection, and that He can overcome all that comes against me. I need to remember the courage of Daniel and that godly living does not mean popularity: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)
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