Daniel’s Faithfulness

Daniel 1:8–21
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

We took a group of 75 high school teens to Poland to do missionary ministry. The first Sunday we were in a church where they were going to serve communion with real wine. Being responsible for this group of young people I was forced to make a quick decision. Would we partic … More

Standards

The king wanted these young men to be strong and healthy so he said that they were to eat the same food he ate and drink the same wine that was served to him. They knew that if they were to eat the king’s food, they would break God’s law. This food may have been offered to idols. Also they knew that those who were set apart to serve the Lord were never to drink wine (Num. 6:1-4). Daniel decided not to eat the food God did not approve of (v. 8). The strong moral conviction of these four young men made an impact on this Babylonian official (v. 9). The official feared for his life because anything short of obedience meant execution (v. 10). The king’s official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends (v. 11). Wisely choosing to negotiate rather than to rebel Daniel worked out a diet of vegetables and water which the guard agreed to (vv. 12-14).

At the end of the ten days they were healthier than those who had dined on the king’s food (v. 15). After this, the guard let them eat vegetables instead of the rich food and wine (16). Daniel and his friends learned all they could about their new culture so they could do their work with excellence (v. 17). At the end of three years the king interviewed them and gave them positions in the royal court (vv. 18-19). They became his advisors and Daniel served until King Cyrus reign (vv. 20-21).

Application

Daniel determined to honor God even though he was living where people did not have the high standards God demanded. It is my desire to live by God’s standards no matter how strong the peer pressure may be to do otherwise.

Daniel 1:8-21 (English Standard Version)

Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230

Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »