Fire And Fence

Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.

Daniel 1:8

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “At 18 our convictions are hills from which we look; at 45 they are caves in which we hide.” Another analogy would be: convictions are the fires that propel us and the fences that protect us.

Our inner convictions propel us to action. If I have a deep conviction the world is lost without Christ, I’m going to be a witness. If I have a deep conviction God answers prayer, I’m going to pray. If I deeply believe I should help the helpless, I’m going to get involved.

At the same time, convictions erect boundaries around our lives that protect us from sudden temptation. The backseat of a car is no place to decide what we believe about morality and purity. We’d better know about that before we get into such a situation. Convictions need to develop in our lives so that when pressure comes, we’ll know what to do.

What are the boundaries in your life? How far will you go in a business deal to make a little extra money when you know in your heart you’re violating something deep within your own soul? Do you have a set of convictions that you’ve thought out clearly so you’ll know what to do when temptation comes?