Today's Scripture
Set aside: Daniel 1:3-17
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Daniel 1-3 (CEB)
3 Nebuchadnezzar instructed his highest official Ashpenaz to choose royal descendants and members of the ruling class from the Israelites— 4 good-looking young men without defects, skilled in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, conversant with learning, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. Ashpenaz was to teach them the Chaldean language and its literature. 5 The king assigned these young men daily allotments from his own food and from the royal wine. Ashpenaz was to teach them for three years so that at the end of that time they could serve before the king. 6 Among these young men from the Judeans were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 But the chief official gave them new names. He named Daniel “Belteshazzar,” Hananiah “Shadrach,” Mishael “Meshach,” and Azariah “Abednego.”
Test
8 Daniel decided that he wouldn’t pollute himself with the king’s rations or the royal wine, and he appealed to the chief official in hopes that he wouldn’t have to do so. 9 Now God had established faithful loyalty between Daniel and the chief official; 10 but the chief official said to Daniel, “I’m afraid of my master, the king, who has mandated what you are to eat and drink. What will happen if he sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men in your group? The king will have my head because of you!”
11 So Daniel spoke to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 12 “Why not test your servants for ten days? You could give us a diet of vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance to the appearance of the young men who eat the king’s food. Then deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 The guard decided to go along with their plan and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. 16 So the guard kept taking away their rations and the wine they were supposed to drink and gave them vegetables instead. 17 And God gave knowledge, mastery of all literature, and wisdom to these four men. Daniel himself gained an understanding of every type of vision and dream.
What does this passage mean to me/us
I don’t know how many of you know, but I do have an American name. When I was a child, as a new immigrant, we felt the need to have an American name and my father named me Daniel. I don’t use the name anymore, but I admire his determination.
Daniel and his friends were in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
They heard and saw what happened to the nation when they turned their back against God. One of the reasons God needed to change the course of the nation was due to the people of God defiling their holiness with the surrounding culture.
Daniel and his friends knew what happened, which led them to make a decision.
The Bible says, “Daniel decided that he wouldn’t pollute himself with the king’s rations or the royal wine” (v.8). He decided not to conform to the world and participate in the practices that seemed to be normal.
One reason they did not eat the food was that the food was offered to other gods. These days, we don’t seem to have other gods in a form of an idol, but we also have to see that things in the world that distract us away from our Lord can be considered as idols. Then this also means that there is a decision we need to make when other things can distract us from God.
Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.”
God is calling us to make a decision and focus our lives on God’s will.
Prayer
Lord, we repent of living our lives in our own ways. Help us to receive your Spirit and hold onto the hope of your kingdom. We pray in Christ name, AMEN.
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