“The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among those who were chosen were some from Judah; Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.” Daniel 1:5-7

Lord, This world wants to change me. The devil wants to pressure me to give up my identity as a child of God and to lose myself in this world so that I lose my eternity with you. In both blatant and more subtle ways, I am pressured to lose my identity in this world. Help me and keep me from this, dear Savior. Make and keep me vigilant so that I am always aware of the Devil’s schemes. Make me strong and courageous so that I stand up for what is right in the face of the pressure to give in to what is wrong. Root me ever more deeply in my identity as your child and an heir of eternity. When I stray, help me to see it and then to run back to you as quickly as I can. Receive me, then, dear Father with arms of your forgiveness and cover me with the blood of Jesus. I am yours. Keep me from straying and keep me as yours for all eternity. Amen.

The time may come (perhaps it already has) when you will look back at your life and see how far you have wandered from following after Christ. That time may come and you will be ashamed. You gave into the pressure and lost your identity in this world. In that moment, run back to Christ. It isn’t too late. He will receive you with open arms to forgive and receive and restore. He always does and always will do that. He will always receive you back with open arms. You are still his forgiven and redeemed brother. You are still a dearly loved child of the Heavenly Father.