[Steve Myers] As God has called us and begins to work with us, He removes us from the thinking of this world to a different standard. We’re called to be people of principle, and yet sometimes it’s difficult to sort out exactly how does that look in our lives. So I thought it might be helpful to consider ways that we can be people of principle in a practical kind of way.

And to begin with, one thing that struck me is there are certain things that are non-negotiable, that are absolutes when it comes to our calling. And that’s the fact that there are things that, no matter what life brings, these are principles that we need to follow. And so I’ve called this whole concept the group of “no matter whats”. “No matter whats”. So no matter what life brings, these are the no matter whats that are critical for us if we are to be those people that are called out of this world to be people of principle.

And the first one that I’d like to consider is that we have to obey God, no matter what. No matter what, we must obey God. So we’ve got to set our mind to do that. And there is an amazing example in the book of Acts that shows this exact principle. The disciples are preaching and teaching about Jesus Christ, it’s after the resurrection, they’re excited about this. Well, they end up getting thrown into prison. And in Acts 5:17 it tells us, “The high priest rose up, and all that were with him. They were filled with indignation.” They were mad at these disciples preaching this, what they would call, heresy. It says, “They laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.” So they’re thrown in prison, now what are they going to do?

Well, a couple of miraculous things begin to happen. The doors open., they are released, and an angel tells them, verse 20, “Go stand in the temple. Speak to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20). Now can you imagine that? You’re preaching the truth, you get thrown in jail, now miraculously you’re let out, and you’re instructed to go right back into the heart of where all the problems are, right at the temple, and preach the word.

Now, maybe we can come up with all kinds of excuses why we shouldn’t that, but the disciples were of that “no matter what” mindset. They were going to obey God no matter what. So we begin to see, what did they do? The very next verse, after hearing those instructions, “When they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught.” So they went right back to it. They didn’t hit the snooze on their alarm. They got up early, went right into the heart of things, and began to preach and teach the truth. They were going to obey God no matter what.

Of course, you can imagine what happened. The same thing happens all over again, that they were arrested, they were brought before the council. The council is aggravated with them all over again. Ultimately, the conclusion of things gets to the point that they beat them – they gave them a good beating – and they told them – this is all the way down in verse 40 – “They should not speak in the name of Jesus.” And they let them go. Well, just like the scenario before, the very next verse, verse 41, “They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:40-42).

You see, they had set their mind that no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the difficulties, they were going to obey God, no matter what. God gives us the help to do the very same thing. If we’re to be people of principle, we have to set our minds to that no matter what. Let’s strive to do that with God’s help, that no matter what, we have determined to obey him.

That’s BT Daily. We’ll see you next time.