What is Your Motivation?
Read Daniel 1
As I began to prepare for the Daniel Fast this year, I came across something that I had not paid attention to prior to this year. I kept noticing the words, Daniel Plan and Daniel Fast mentioned in secular articles. Growing up in the church, I always heard of the Daniel Fast, but it hasn’t been until recent years, that this seems to be a growing movement. More people are choosing to start the year off with this type of fast. This is a trend both inside and outside of the church. Since Daniel is a role model for us in the Christian faith, I had to pause and ask myself, why is this movement growing in the secular culture as well?
The answer is simple. People have discovered that there are many health benefits associated with following The Daniel Plan. It is an opportunity to strip your food intake down to the basics and to focus on “eating to live” vs. “living to eat.” As a consequence of changing one’s diet in this manner, many have lost weight and improved their overall physical health. The difference between participating in The Daniel Plan vs. The Daniel Fast, is the motivation behind starting.
So I ask you? What is your motivation? Are you choosing to abstain for certain foods for a limited amount of time because you want to focus on the physical benefits? Or, are you ready to tune your ears towards the voice of God to receive a spiritual alignment? If your motivation is strictly focusing on the physical benefits, then you will be missing out on the opportunity to hear God’s special message to you.
We all need God to give us a vision and a plan to fulfill that vision. He has imparted gifts and talents in us and we should desire to accomplish what He created us to do. Once Daniel made the decision to not allow the “culture” around him to dictate his life direction, but to instead keep God as the focus, his ministry began (Daniel 1:15-18) and God blessed his life. He chose to focus on his spiritual journey as opposed to enjoying the temporary benefits that his status afforded him (Daniel 1:4). What will be your motivation if you choose to participate?
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE? Text @aba6aa to 81010 or respond via email by January 28th. We will be using “Google Hangouts” to facilitate our devotional group discussion.
CONTACT: Stephanie Singleton 845-204-8185
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