Consistency: Proving Your Faith

I want to challenge you to open up your Bible to the book of Daniel, Chapter 6. Read the story. It's one of the most famous Old Testament stories. You probably know it. When you finish reading, rejoin me for just a minute.

Now that you're finished, was there any one thing that really stood out in your mind with regard to Daniel's faith? There was to me. It was consistency. Look at Verse 10 again. Although the decree from King Darius was that no man could petition any god or man for 30 days, save himself, Daniel did anyway. It says that Daniel "knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days."

This verse should bring into our minds a question or two. 1) How does God expect us to act when the world makes laws that effort to separate us from Him? 2) How well do we serve God today amidst social and political pressures? We know that Peter and the rest of the apostles made the answer to question #1 quite clear in Acts 5:29 - "We ought to obey God rather then men." The Bible supports this truth throughout (Ex. 20:3-6; Matt. 6:33; etc.). What about question # 2? How well are you obeying God rather than men? This one may be a little tougher to answer. Does your level of faith change when the situation changes? Do you find yourself slipping when your faith is challenged? If you were to be thrown into a den of lion's for praying, would you still pray?

I think there is a key point that needs to be made here in order to answer all of this: We need to make God's commandments a part of our lives - so much a part of our lives that when we are faced with opposition we won't even second guess ourselves. We won't even flinch. When we can reach this point, we'll have the type of obedient faith that God desires to see in us, and we'll have a good relationship with Him. Notice again what Verse 10 says, that for Daniel prayer was "customary since early days." It was a part of his life. It was what he always did. There was no reason to change it, it was right. Can't our lives exhibit this, too?

There is a reason for daily service to God. There is a reason for daily Christianity. We are human, and we can get off track. But Jesus said that if we are to follow Him we need to avoid this, by taking up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). The only way we can do this is by being consistent.

As God and Christ implore you, so I implore you: Be consistent! Assemble with the brethren every time they meet (Heb. 10:25). Rejoice always, pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16,17). Be a Christian every day of your life. Follow God first, and always with open ears listen to His will for you and become obedient, no matter what the earthly cost.

Daniel's consistency resulted in deliverance. It will for Christians as well. Even King Darius finally recognized that "God is a living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end" (Dan. 6:26). May God help us to be more like Him.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" - Heb. 13:8