Lions? Maintain integrity.

Daniel 6:20. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" 21. Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! 22. My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." 23. The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

So...the lions gotcha in their cave? Maintain integrity! That means - hang in there! Sure, it's easy for anyone not in the cave to say, "Hey, hang in there!" but they aren't the one in the cave, so to speak.

Here's what really happened with Daniel - he was consistent and ethical long before he ever got to the cave!

You don't find yourself surrounded by 400 pound cats at dinner time and think that you have a 'free pass' out without having earned the pass earlier. The fool who spread the word that 'works' don't matter in a kingdom of Grace, didn't pay much attention in 'Eschatology 101' and is only surpassed in his foolishness by those who believed him.

There will be a judgment of 'works.' We will stand before God and give account of how we have lived our life. The imperative isn't on some tally of good deeds, but rather on the quality of our integrity.

Integrity isn't stubbornness; nor is it ethical behavior if based upon a false presumption. Stubborn defense of dogma's doesn't qualify as integrity - if that were the case, these radical religious terrorist groups would be defensible in their behavior. They are NOT defensible because it is NOT Godly merely based upon it being religious dogma. There are 'Christian' groups who are just as evil as those espousing other religions in their fanaticism!

Daniel's behavior was always ethical in his dealings with the 'heathen' king, and with God. He had been taken hostage as a teenager and removed about 600 miles from his home. He lived the rest of his life in that distant country. He did it with integrity. If we can't live with integrity on a day to day basis when there isn't a crisis, we won't have the strength to live with integrity when facing the lions of life...and God doesn't 'owe' an unethical man anything.

Jeremiah put it this way, "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" (Jeremiah 12:5)