Graduation day came. It seemed as if I only took one step into high school and another out. My dream turned into reality. I walked across the stage with a diploma (in fact, two diplomas) in my hands across the stage, spoke to the multitudes in an auditorium, and bid farewell to the school that I called my second home for eighteen years. My life was at its pinnacle and I didn't want to descend that mountain, but the law of gravity conquers all and I as a slave obey: what goes up must come down.
After graduation, I was nervous to enter a whole new realm: college. I was excited at the same time. I was going to be challenged educationally and advance my knowledge to utilize in the future. I knew that what I would experience during the year will be a year of "firsts" and I looked forward to experiencing them. Moreover, I looked forward to getting over the first year with a big, fat, red button pin with bold white "FRESHMAN" word on it.
Today, that pin is long gone. I am a sophomore, the "wisest of the dumb" (Hint: study the root behind this word... this was a humorous phrase that I picked up in high school). Sitting here at home, my mind lingered to the past year and everything I went through, the victories and defeats I experienced, and the joys shared and sorrows endured. After playing with some pleasant memorie, a faint memory lingered in my mind and became stronger. Soon, the only thing I was thinking about was, prior to entering my first class, faithfully preparing myself for the upcoming spiritual warfare for my soul by reading David Wheaton's University of Destruction. This verse was the driving force behind my preparations.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
~1 John 5:4-5
Daniel, a Jewish boy, grew up in a privileged Jewish family in the middle Eastern town of Jerusalem. He was well-educated, good-looking, and socially adept. He had everything going for him. He even had a strong faith in God.
While he was a teenager, King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and, as a part of the takeover, Daniel and some of his teenage friends were taken away from their families and brought hundreds of miles northeast to the great city of Babylon to be servants in the king's palace.
To be a servant requires three years of intense training, not some apron and broom to sweep the floors. In another terms, an attempt was made to brainwash Daniel into Babylonian literature, culture, religion, and customs. First, Daniel's name, which meant "God is my judge," was changed to the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, which meant "Bel protect the king." Bel was the name of the supreme idol that was worshipped in the Babylonian Empire. Second, Daniel was being completely re-educated in culture and literature of Babylon. They were trying to eliminate the instructions he received before the capture because Judaism was contradictory to Babylonian pagan worship. In short words, King Nebuchadnezzar was trying to transform a godly Jewish boy into a pagan Babylonian.
It is easy to succumb to the pressure executed by Babylon, but what did Daniel do? In another terms, what was Daniel's mind-set while he was in Babylon going through a major transition from being a Jew to a Babylonian?
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank...
~Daniel 1:8
What did Daniel do? He "purposed in his heart," or committed to himself in his heart, that he will not fall under the influence of Babylon paganism by compromising his Judaism beliefs. He committed beforehand that he will remain steadfast in his faith and belief in God by "not defil[ing] himself." That allowed him to overcome the world and thrive as a servant of God later in his lifetime as an advisor to kings and a prophet. That is somebody that everybody could look upon as a role model in our lives, especially in the fallen state of the world spiraling toward destruction.
I do feel like Daniel. I feel like I am walking in his shoes. I feel like I am being indoctrinated in paganism ideology and lifestyle at my college. College is an enticing place for me to "come out of the closet" from the protection of my parents. I could easily find a girl and have prematerial sex at my own leisure. I could easily join a drinking party and have the most fun time of my lifetime. I could have literally "eat, drink, and be merry." Professors could have "brainwashed" me into believing that God is, in essence, false and I could have chosen to take the hook, bait, and the sinker. Living a sinful lifestyle is fun.
Instead of succumbing myself to the pressures of the fallen world, I committed myself to the same cause Daniel did; I have "purposed in [my] heart" that I shall NOT lower my moral standards. Instead of looking at debased and worthless idols of this world, I have fixed my eyes upwardly toward the prize: the glittering crown of life. I have a long race ahead of me. I have many obstacles to overcome. I shall attempt to not allow any iota of impure action, thoughts, words, or deeds to enter this holy temple (read: my body) consectrated for God alone for His glory. Even if I am pure before God's eyes, I do also realize that I will fall from time to time. I am still a human. I still live in flesh, not in spirit. When I fall, instead of groveling in the dust feeling sorry for myself, I shall rise as a battered but victorious man, stronger, bolder, and transformed. I have purposed in my heart to imitate Christ's loving attributes toward the most worst of the worst. Via Occam's razor, I shall be a Overcomer of this world through the power and grace of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ, the only true Messiah that had come and will come again in the future. Amen.
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