I Reject The King's Portion! Part 5

Grace to you and peace from our Father dear brethren. Today we will continue to look at how the world hooks us to its system. Yesterday we determined in one of our inferences that the world is Excellence-focused. This is further supported by Daniel 1:5 which says 'And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king (NKJV)'. There are three things that this verse focuses on: lifestyle, training and propagation. For a system to be able to stand the test of time, it has to carry an attractiveness to it, it must have practical application lessons and it must have measures to replicate itself across several if not all generations.

In this case, the Babylonian system was made attractive by the fact that those selected to learn it were allocated a daily provision from the king's choice food and wine. In the world today, most trends that come about have incentives to those engaging in them. The main focus is usually on what those who become part of that trend will gain for themselves. Understand this: as long as someone can hold on to the promise of something they want to be or to achieve, they can be ensnared (and even held captive) by anything which shows intent to help them realize their desire. The Babylonian system had practical application lessons. When you read the Book of Daniel you realize that those who were successful in the training were given charge of cities and other important assignments. They had a prolonged training that took three years to ensure every pillar of the system was inculcated into their life completely. In the world today, every new trend that crops up and has an intent of long term influence, always invests countless resources in ensuring it is taught and inculcated into the lives of the target audience. Get this: every investment into well-structured intensive and extensive training often enough results into influencing lifestyle. Finally, the Babylonian system had the end goal of replication. Those who were trained in the ways of the Chaldeans became the custodians of their traditions and cultures and were expected to uphold them as they performed their assignments in the service of the King. In the world today, the lifeline of every trend or system is continuity. Those whom the world makes a valuable investment into, are expected to in turn propagate the system by teaching others about it, living it out and spending their full energies rooting for it. Hear this: every system that cannot replicate itself across generations is no worthy investment.

We have to understand these are the perilous times spoken about in 2nd Timothy chapters 3 and 4. Our response to these times has to be 2nd Timothy 2:20-21. We also have to choose whether we are responding to Light or reacting to darkness! The former indicates we are constantly hearing God's voice, while the latter is indicative of a diminished power of the cross!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus make me more attractive to the world through a lifestyle that upholds You. I give myself into investing in the nourishment of the Word and constantly spending time in You, so that I may spread the Gospel everywhere. Amen.