Make Up Your Mind: Living Like Daniel

By Erik Konsmo

Remaining Faithful Through Trials and Tribulations

Making up your mind is an action, not a reaction. When faced with adversity or challenges, you have two choices: subscribe to what the culture says is the solution or find the truth in God's Word.

In Joshua 24:15, Joshua declares: "...Choose f

• Language: English
• Publisher: Equip Press
• Release date: Aug 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781951304713

Book preview

DAY

1

Walk the Walk

Key Verse: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

My family and I moved from Seattle to San Diego a few years ago, and now I am fortunate to live within walking distance of the beach. Living near the surf and the sand has elevated my quality of life considerably. These walks are part of my routine each day and benefit me physically, mentally, and even spiritually as I appreciate God’s creation in a fantastic climate. Science has proven the numerous health benefits of spending time at the beach. The experience of the warm sun, the waves, and the sand between the toes relieve tension and stress. The body receives vitamin D, hormones are regulated, and the exercise of moving about on the sand brings fatigue that invites better sleep too.

I started a blog several years ago and called it In Step. The overarching theme threaded throughout the articles is for Christians to keep in step and in alignment with God and his Word in a world that is hostile to Jesus and the gospel message. The title In Step is based on Galatians 5, where the Apostle Paul told the Galatians twice to walk a certain way. First, he explains, Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). Then, after listing the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, he declares, If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Paul offers no middle ground, as one must choose between fulfilling the fleshly desires, which results in exile from God’s kingdom, or walking by the Spirit, in which such desires do not rule the heart and mind.

In the Old Testament, the concept of walking (Hebrew word is halak) was metaphorically connected to righteous behavior. For example, Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:22), as did Noah (Genesis 6:9). God asked Abraham to walk with him (Genesis 17:1), Isaac walked with God (Genesis 24:40), and there are many other examples. A person’s walk came to stand for a person’s outlook on life as well as their spiritual and ethical behavior. In the New Testament period, the Pharisees connected righteous living with the Hebrew verb to walk (halak) for their rules of behavior that expanded and attempted to apply the Law of Moses. They were called the Halakah. Pharisees even asked Jesus why his disciples did not walk according to these principles, such as appropriate handwashing (Mark 7:5).

Paul used the idea of a spiritual walk when he wrote, Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). He did so again in Romans 8:4, where he emphasized the commitment of one’s mind and body toward God and away from the desires of the flesh.

Paul’s metaphor of walk shows us that the Christian life is a journey, and the Spirit is the believer’s guide, who directs our steps to be taken. And walking in lockstep with the Spirit of God brings the spiritual relief and refreshment that walking on the beach brings to our physical bodies.

Today’s Takeaway: Make up your mind to walk life’s journey in the Spirit, a spiritual walk at the beach, by serving others rather than gratifying your own selfish desires.

DAY

2

Enjoy Hard Work

Key Verse: Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men (Colossians 3:23).

At my very first job, I worked at a Bible camp in Black Diamond, Washington, primarily in the dining hall. We lived a half-mile from the camp, so I rode my bike back and forth to work, my first commute. I was eleven years old, and my job duties included setting up tables and chairs, serving food, sweeping and mopping the floors, wiping tables, and generally keeping the place clean before, during, and after meals. I’m certain current child labor laws prohibit eleven-year-olds from doing that today, which is unfortunate. I remember my first task on the inaugural day. I poured orange juice into about four hundred individual cups to be served as part of breakfast. Then I had to deliver them to the tables. But what stands out is when I received the first paycheck. It wasn’t much, but I was proud of the money I had earned through hard work. That feeling has never left. Even as an adult, the nights I feel best are at the end of a long work day, where a lot was accomplished. God wired us for work, movement, and to use our energy each day.

According to Proverbs, one’s work ethic is a reflection of one’s heart for God. Positive benefits and characteristics for the person who works hard include:

Increased wealth (Proverbs 10:4)

Abundant food (12:11)

Granted supervisory roles at work (12:24)

Earn profits (14:23)

Become skilled at your work (22:29)

On the other hand, there are numerous consequences and characteristics of the lazy person:

Become poor (10:4; 14:23)

Irritate your employer (10:26)

Go hungry (19:15)

Love sleep (20:13; 24:33-34; 26:14)

Make excuses for why you cannot work today (22:13; 26:13)

And to put it into a New Testament context, it is contradictory for a lazy person to claim to be a follower of Christ. The Apostle Paul established a rule with the Thessalonians Christians: If a man will not work, he shall not eat (2 Thess. 3:10). Apparently, in first-century Thessalonica, lazy Christians were living off the earnings of other Christians who did work, and this was to be prohibited among God’s people.

The thrill of work for the sake of work or simply for a paycheck will wear thin eventually. Our hard work only brings lasting pleasure when it is done as service unto the Lord. An old King Solomon noted this when he wrote, Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun (Ecclesiastes 2:11). And a few verses later, Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me (Ecclesiastes 2:18).

Solomon clarified that laboring as unto the Lord brings true happiness. There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25). We must work, but with a unique purpose given to us by God.

And the Apostle Paul confirmed this truth too, "Whatever you do, do you work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom