Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Well, hey, friends. All week long, we've been sitting with the question from Daniel's story, a question that's 3,000 years old, and it's just as alive as it ever was. And here's the question.
[00:00:17] Whose name is on you? Whose name is on you? Not the name that culture has been handing you. Not the one from middle school that you still hear sometimes when things go sideways. Not the one wrapped in a promotion or failure or a relationship that left a mark. The real one, the one spoken over you before any of the other voices ever showed up. Now, we've seen that culture is always in the naming business. We've seen that God got there first. We've seen how drift happens quietly, comfortably, one small compromise at a time. Today I want to land on the thing that Daniel didn't. That. That he did that I don't want us to miss. And it's this one little phrase or this one little idea that he chose now, not dramatically, not with a protest, not with a speech. He just made a decision.
[00:00:59] Chapter one tells us that he made up his mind. Now, the Hebrew carries the idea of setting your heart, planting a stake, deciding in advance, before the pressure came, before the food was served, before the curriculum started, Daniel decided who he was going to be. Now, John 17, 15, 16 shows us what Jesus prayed for. People like Daniel and like you, Jesus prayed, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. There's this idea that Jesus is praying that we are in the world, but we're not of it. And that is the assignment. Not to retreat, not to disengage from your workplace, from your neighborhood, your family, your community.
[00:01:42] You're supposed to be here fully, genuinely, presently. You just don't have to become what's around you. And the difference between those two things, being in the world without being of the world, that comes down to a daily choice. It is made in the small moments, none of the grand gestures. It's the decision to pause before you react, to measure what you say against what you actually believe, to let God's voice be louder today than the loudest other thing in the room. And here's the practical question I want you to leave you with. Is there a name in your life, a comparison, a standard, a memory, a voice that you've been accepting without questioning it? Something that's been defining you, that you never actually chose? If so, today is a good day to stop.
[00:02:26] Not with drama just to pause and ask, wait, whose name is actually on me? Then go back to the original answer. God chose you before the foundation of the world. He knew exactly what he was getting. He named you anyway. Chosen Beloved. Known his not as a reward for having it together. Not as a motivational tactic. As a fact. Babylon can change your name, but it can't change who you are unless. Unless you let it. So choose today.
[00:02:52] Not once forever.
[00:02:54] Just today.
[00:02:56] Just today. Just choose today. Choose which voice you're going to let carry the most weight. Choose which name you're going to live inside of. The same God whose name was woven into Daniel before Babylon ever showed up. He's woven it into you as well. And what he says about you. I'm telling you, it does not change Babylon. It can change your name, but it can't change who you are unless you let it. Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon. Sa.
