‘But Daniel was determined not to defile himself.’ Daniel 1: 8
It can be really tough being a Christian some of the time. And there’s no doubt it’s difficult to keep on doing the right thing all of the time. Daniel had it really tough. He was a young prince in the royal household of Judah, but when he was in his early teens his country was invaded and he was taken prisoner. As a captive he was dragged off to Babylon, given a new name, forced to learn a different language, re-educated and put to work for a foreign government. He had no idea when or if he’d ever return home.
You wouldn’t blame him for ‘slacking off’ in a situation like that, would you? But Daniel didn’t. He chose to trust God! Daniel was constantly being tempted to forget about living for God. It’s hard to do the right thing when you’re at that party with all your mates and the alcohol and love interests are in plentiful supply, right?
Daniel was tempted every day to forget God’s way. Did he give up and join in? No! Every day Daniel was faithful, doing what was right in all things. At one time he was thrown into a den of lions. Did he panic? No! Every day of his life to that point Daniel had chosen to obey God and as a result, when a massive problem came his way, he could handle it!
If you’re tempted to think it doesn’t matter about getting the little day-to-day things right, remember Daniel. It was only through obeying in all the small things everyday that he was able to get the big things right too.
SoulFood: 2 Kings 7–9, Mark 14:66–72, Ps 132:1–10, Pr 13:4–6
word4today an adaptation of The Word For Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024
