The sergeant has received his orders. “At any cost, take that hill.” He turns to his men and says, “Check your rifles...affix your bayonets. At my signal we charge and take the hill!” The men in his company have been in the trenches for days. They’ve seen other men try to take the hill and fail. They know the enemy is heavily entrenched and determined to hold their ground. And each man, as he waits for the command from his sergeant, is asking himself one question: “Is this a hill worth dying for?”

Those of us who have never been to war cannot completely understand the anguish of such a moment where life hangs in the balance, but we have asked the same question in different, if less threatening, terms. “Is this principle worth risking my job?” Or, “Is this argument worth the damage it might cause in my marriage?” On what basis do we choose which hills are “worth dying for?” I believe if we have made the right life commitments, the question answers itself when it arises. Our problem is we don’t nail down the big questions at the outset, and so we waver on the smaller ones. The book of Daniel records the story of four young men who were kidnapped and carried into a foreign land. As the prevailing powers in this new country tried to “assimilate” them, they received a shock! These young men had made up their minds not to defile themselves or turn their back on their God, so when the questions of diet and prayer practices came up, their decisions were already made. When we nail down the big choices, the other decisions fall more readily into place.

MEMORY VERSE

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and he will deliver us out of your hand. (Daniel 3:17)

READ THROUGH THE BIBLE

1 Kings 11-12; Psalm 38