Have you ever heard the expression “if you give him and inch he will take a mile”? I know we have all heard that one once or twice before. But why does it matter? Here is why…I want to talk briefly about that first inch that you give up, that you concede, that you compromise. You see, the expression “give him an inch” indicates from the very beginning that you gave in…or you gave up…something…that you thought maybe you had to, in order to improve the situation. What you did was compromise. Now, please don’t get me wrong here. Compromise in a relationship is crucial for it to last, Am I right? We do not agree with our spouse’s or our friends all the time. Have you ever “agreed to disagree” and hopefully still maintained the relationship? Good debate is healthy and promotes independent thinking and I think is the key to long-lasting friendships however compromise in other areas of our life is what I am focusing on today.
I am reading a new book by Dr. David Jeremiah called, The Writing on the Wall, and it talks about the prophet Daniel who while captive in Babylon for 70 years, Daniel did not compromise his God ever, no matter what his circumstances, even in the face of death. His consistency is astounding and frankly a model for all of us to follow. But Dr. Jeremiah makes a point here that I want to illustrate with you which is simply that it takes guts…real guts, to say no, even with God on your side. Daniel was resolute in his defiance in Babylon and for you and I, no matter where we are in life, we do not “have to bend the rules to be blessed of God. Success is NOT dependent upon our compromise”. Everywhere a compromise is worked out in the Bible…bad things happen…
From the very beginning, we see compromises;
- Adam, who fell right in line with Eve’s sin by compromising and eating the forbidden fruit… Well, he lost Eden.
- Sarah’s lack of faith in God caused her to compromise and send her husband Abraham in with Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael. As a result, life in the Middle East will never be the same.
- We all remember Esau who compromised his birthright because he was hungry.
- King David, who was a man after Gods own heart, compromised Gods morality by sleeping with Bathsheba and then killing her husband Uriah. He lost his son…
The list goes on and on with Solomon, Judas and Ahab. All of them compromised something significant in their lives and it cost them. To think all they would have had to do was to just say NO…I am going to stand on what my God has promised me and take whatever comes my way.
I want to finish with a story Dr. Jeremiah shares in his book about an exchange in a high school class between some students and a godless professor.
In one of his lectures he said, “will all of you who believe the myths of the Bible please stand.” Several stood.
Then he added, “now this semester I am going to free you from this religious Bible nonsense. I have read the Bible, and it is certainly written by a bunch of mixed up men.”
One young Daniel stood up and said, “Sir, the Bible is God’s letter to Christians, and if you are confused it’s because you are reading someone else’s mail.”
Guys, I pray that all of us can stand firm and NOT compromise in the face of this kind (or worse) of adversity against your faith or yourself. I will tell you this, this life and its “adversity” will continue to get worse and you are going to be in circumstances where you will be asked to “give an inch”. What’s an inch you say? In our case as Christians, it is truly the difference between a life spent with God in Eternity or the alternative…Hell. It is that simple
You get to make that choice…
My advice, choose Daniel…no compromise…
Until next time Guys…
