Daniel 1: 8-15 says "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself: Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Prove why servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat."

In this story, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were taken amongst other children to serve the king. The king offered his own special meat and wine to them all and yet these four refused. Now, if you were dining in the White House for example, you would most likely be more than excited to taste and eat the kind of food the President eats, since he is the president of course. You would expect the best in all the country's food to be served to him so it's an honour to you to get a taste of this food also. Now, imagine someone offered your friend the best food in the land, and they said no. Chances are you would look at them like they were crazy. And this is exactly what happened here. Daniel and his friends chose to eat vegetables and drink water rather than meat and wine. But Daniel knew what the reward was in his heart for not eating of the king's food and he trusted God so he did not have a problem in doing this, although people must have looked at him like he was crazy. And in the end, the four boys faces looked better and more nourished than all the other children who had conformed. Think about it.

We often, especially as teenagers, seem to look at the world in a hedonistic light. In saying that I mean, many people just want to live for pleasure, to have fun in life, no matter what the cost is, they just want to enjoy themselves. There is, however, a problem here. When people indulge in a life wherein they are just living to have fun because of everybody else is doing it, there is a danger, because one day everyone will stop, and then what are you going to do? Conformity is dangerous and not just for that reason, that reason is a minor one in comparison with all the others. We are told in the Bible, "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) We are also told in 2 Corinthians 6:17 "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate" I don't think I can every forget those words. BE YE SEPARATE. You are not obliged by any means to be just like the next person is. What's the difference between someone who is successful and someone who is not? The one who is successful did things differently. They were separate, meaning different. How can we claim to be close to God when in reality the devil has a hold on our feet? 

The idea in our society is image. It's all about image. "What will my boys think if I do that" "What will my girls say if I tell them I don't like that" Okay. Fair enough. But what will God say when you stand before him on that last day and try to justify yourself? What will God say? A problem with some Christians is that we act as if we were not given a law to obey, and it is such a dangerous thing to live like that. The Bible tells us that WE will be judged more severely than those who didn't believe because we actually knew the commandments, we knew the law, and we CHOSE not to obey..It is a deadly thing to play with God like that. Change is needed and it is needed now.

There will always be pressure to act the way everybody else acts and talk how everybody else talks but one thing that encourages me above all is that Christ was tempted just as we were. He came in human form and was tempted exactly the same way we are. One thing about God is that he does not allow us to be tempted any more than we can bear it. He only gives us what he knows we can handle. FACT. So although it may seem hard to say no or turn around when something you know God doesn't agree with is going on around you, you can do it. God knows you can. He is rooting for you. People are here for you one day and gone the next, do you really want them to be the reason you find yourself in hell?

The world does many things but remember we are not of the world. We may be in the world but we are not OF it. We do not have to do the things it does or agree with the things it agrees with. We are different. Christ called us to be different. It's like a tree where all the leaves are dark and withering and then you see that one yellow leaf and you get confused. You wonder, how is it possible that it's surrounded by so many dying things and yet it is still bright? It does not make sense. It probably defies some laws of nature so it makes you look even longer. That's what we should be like. The way our lives are different from others should make people look at us in awe and wonder, because it will eventually turn into admiration. Let them hate you for no reason but they can't deny the light that shines in you. A part of 1 Peter 3:16 says "Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ."

I beg you, do not deceive yourself and say you are in Christ if you really are not. Titus 1:16 "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." This is a scary mindset to possess. To think you are in Christ, when it is obvious to others that you are not, speaks volumes. If people are not able to point out that you are different to how others behave, then something is wrong. "You will know them by their fruits." If you claim to be in Christ, while you are living your live getting drunk, committing fornication, swearing, insulting others, hating people, then you are indeed in for a very unpleasant surprise if change is not applied. And I beg you not to say I'll change tomorrow because as repeated as it is, what if tomorrow never comes? Jesus told us that on the last day people will cry out to him "Lord, Lord." They will say, but we were saved! But I said the prayer, I gave my life to you! I did good things, I gave to the poor, I went to church every week! and he will tell them to get away from him. Why? Because they lived their lives as if Christ never died for them. Remember, going to church on Sundays doesn't make you a true believer any more than eating one burger makes you fat.

The great and marvellous thing about Christ, however, is that he is ready to help you today. He is ready to accept you and change your life around. One thing I remember doing, and I still do, is that I would ask God to tear apart my life. As in the life where I was disobedient and hanged out with the wrong people and did not show Christ in me at all, and I asked him to build up a new one for me. And indeed it was hard, but it was worth it. Many people expect that when they come to Jesus, their life suddenly jumps into this beautiful merry-go-round of happiness, and it does, but the process of that involves a lot of breaking down relationships and friendships and separating from many things you once thought made you happy, but the end result of it is incomparable. I can never, ever, ever, go back to the way I used to live before because never in my life have I been this happy since I met Christ.

So today, if you want to take God seriously, do it. Don't say "I'll wait til I'm ready" because the truth is, you never really will be. You must launch into God by your own choice. He gives us a free will, free choice to do what we want so we better do it wisely. Pray to him and genuinely tell him you're sorry for everything you've done in the past, and don't just say it, mean it by making sure you turn away from the life you lived before. If you really do give yourself to God and just depend on him, an overwhelming kind of love will flow into your life, the kind that no earthly relationship can ever give because when God wants to shower love on someone, he does it with class. Accept Jesus into your life today because he's knocking at your door and just waiting for you to open it. It's your choice. Choose wisely.

I pray that God will usher you in the right direction and that you will rejoice with him in Heaven and that you will experience the indescribable love of Christ in your life today.

Thank you for reading, have a blessed day.

If you have any questions or anything to say, comment below or contact me.

"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "'Come out of her, my people,' so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;"

Revelation 18:4