No If, No But, No Maybe

Dan. 1: 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…

It was all fresh in Daniel’s mind and he knew he would never forget it, the screams of terror, the clash of weapons, the smell of blood, the dead bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem. He remembered the pain of defeat and the fear that swept through the city as Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers gathered the prisoners, the pounding of his own heart as he was lined up for deportation; the heart-wrenching wails of mothers and sisters as they parted, never to meet again; the thousand-mile forced march through the sun and the rain and the humiliating entry into Babylon with the people laughing, mocking, jeering…

Now here he was, a slave in Babylon, his life worth nothing. He knew how cruel the Babylonians could be and that nobody disobeyed King Nebuchadnezzar. Even the prince of the eunuchs was afraid of the king. But when the matter of eating Babylonian food came up Daniel did not sit on the fence. There was no “shall I? Shall I not?” about him. He made up his mind and stuck to his decision. So he made his request to be allowed to eat something else.

Daniel was very bold in asking this favour. How could he do it? Because he was strong in his conviction that that was the right thing to do. We might ask: how did Daniel, just a youngster, develop such a strong mind? The answer is: Daniel’s mind was surrendered to God since his boyhood in Judah. He was firmly anchored in his convictions because:

1. He was a man of prayer (Dan. 1: 17, 18; 6: 10)
2. He studied God’s word and let his thoughts dwell on them (Dan. 9: 2, 3)
3. He was a humble child of God (Dan. $: 20)

Like Daniel, we are in a strange country and are being urged to conform to its way of life. Just remember, we are citizens of a “holy nation”. We need to ask God daily for grace to resist the sometimes subtle temptations. Every child of God can have Daniel’s steadfastness and develop a strong Spirit-guided mind. Each one can:

Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone Dare to have a purpose and dare to make it known

Dear Lord, please give me strength of mind to be firm, even when it seems impossible. Let me stand, in Jesus’ name, amen.