Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The best policy in the long run



















Act on the outset as a Christian should. What if employers should frown, or customers be vexed, or friends fail? Bear it! It will be the best policy in the long run. That is not, however, for you to consider. Do the right thing, whatever happens. Let us be as Daniel. Oh that the young among you would emulate the purpose of heart with which Daniel began life! Oh that the active and vigorous among you would seek with Daniel’s constant prayerfulness for that high gift of wisdom equal to all emergencies with which God so richly endowed him!

And, oh, that the harassed, tempted, and persecuted among you would learn to keep a clean conscience in the midst of impurities, as Daniel did; to preserve, like him, faith and fellowship with the faithful and true God, though living among strangers and foreigners, profane in all their thoughts and habits; and to hold the statutes and commandments of the Lord as more to be desired than wealth or honor — yea, dearer to you, as Daniel accounted them, than even life itself! So shall you honor God, and glorify Christ, and bless and praise his precious name in a way in which nothing else but decision of character can possibly lead you to do. God grant us all to have Christ for a Savior, and to live to his praise. Amen.


From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Daniel Facing the Lions' Den." Image by Geof Wilson on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

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