In Advance

Dan.1:⁸ “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods” [emphasis added].

People may be attracted to packaging but it is the content that will determine if it is money well spent or not. Imagine buying a cereal from the supermarket, 

the packaging says it is the cereal you want but when you pour the contents out, it tastes nothing like cereal.What would you do? What would happen? Assuming that is how they have been selling their product. The brand, package, reputation promises one thing but the content delivers another. Eventually, the reputation of that brand would be destroyed because of the content. Character is so important.

The major reason why people spend so much money to buy designer perfume brands is because they want to smell good. Now imagine buying a Calvin Klein perfume but as soon as you spray it, it has a really offensive smell. Assuming that was what came out of production, it probably will wreck the entire brand. You represent Christ. There is great confusion about what discipline really is and how to practice discipline. So what exactly is discipline and how do you practice being disciplined?

Two words define discipline – capture its essence, and uncover its core. Discipline is delayed gratification. The key to practicing discipline can be described in three words and they are, advance decision making. When you put these two definitions together it comes to making advance decisions to delay gratification as long as necessary, to achieve the result that you most desire – that is discipline.

Remember the story of Daniel? He made an advance decision not to defile himself. You cannot be disciplined if you do not make advanced decision, or if life just happens to you or if you are just stumbling upon life. You will struggle. To be disciplined, you need to make advanced decision. Job made an advanced decision not to lust with his eyes. And everybody that will be successful in discipline, must identify some key areas and make advanced decision to delay gratification in those key areas.

Thought: In what areas do you need to make advance decisions to delay gratification?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help me identify areas in my life where I must make advanced decisions to delay gratification and grow in discipline, in Jesus Name. Amen!