PURPOSED IN THE HEART

“But Daniel PURPOSED in his HEART that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies…” – Dan.1:8a

Victory in Life is crucially connected to being PURPOSED in the HEART: “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; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Dan.1:8). Purpose is the reason for being. The God of Purpose has a reason for everything He made. Purpose is primary to life and destiny. The question, “Why do I exist?” is the starting point for any life, ministry, or institution.  Purpose is fundamental to Success and Victory in life. Strong lasting lives and institutions are built on purpose.

Most significantly, PURPOSE is born in the HEART. The Purpose in the Heart of God for each of His children will be rooted first in our hearts before it will materialise in our lives and manifest for our Victory. The Book of Daniel is the story of a man who lived a life of purpose without compromise. Daniel and his Jewish friends were taken captive to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar’s first attack against Jerusalem, while they were still young. They lived the greater portion of their lives in exile in a pagan nation. This meant they had to face the trials of living a sacred life in a very secular society. Such purposeful lives challenge us to “Dare to be like a Daniel”!

Over and over again Daniel found himself in a precarious environment as he tried to serve a Gentile king and still be faithful to the King of Kings – the Holy One of Israel. Even as he was surrounded by the pressure to compromise, God showed him a way that allowed him to obey the Lord as well as obey the laws of the king – the Way of the Purposeful Heart. Temptation to compromise godly character is every believer’s consistent struggle. In addition to the battles of our own flesh, we also live in a society that wants us to conform to its ungodly norms. However, Jesus Christ has called us to dare to be different, to live a non-negotiable kind of faith.

Daniel was a man of conviction – he stood strong, feet planted firmly within God’s will for his life and within His commands and statutes. Through his conviction, Daniel strove do what was good and right according to God’s standards. The portion of the king’s meat and wine that Daniel purposed in his heart to not be defined with refers to food offered to idols and therefore considered unclean by Jewish standards. Consuming such would be a direct violation of the Mosaic Law and thus of God’s commands (Lev.11). Therefore Daniel’s stance was made to abstain from sinning and do what was right in God’s sight: “And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land…” (Dt.6:18a).

Choices, decisions, and committed actions stem from purpose. That Daniel “purposed in his heart” implies that he “COMMITTED in his heart”! It also means that he “rehearsed” or envisioned in his heart how he would react in such a circumstance prior to the temptation. For the Believer in Christ every minute of every day is a rehearsal for following God. Irrespective of life’s challenges, we must always purpose in our hearts to stand for God, to not sin and to do what is right, through unrelenting commitment to God, His precepts, commands and Word. This doesn’t happen instantaneously; it’s a process of “following God” that requires great preparation. Becoming more like Christ and purposing in our hearts to follow and serve Him take time.

We must invest quality time in communion with God – praying to Him, studying at His feet, serving Him and obeying His Voice. All of these prepare us for the time when our purposed heart has to make a victorious decision for Him. Preparation takes time. Commitment takes time: whether of marriage, career, calling, vocation, parenting, or any worthy cause in life.