Determined Not To Defile Ourselves
Today's Bible Verse
"But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods."
(Daniel 01: 08, New Living Translation)
In a world full of opportunities and temptations, the prophet Daniel's life as a young man stands out as an example of spiritual determination. The determination to stand for what you believe in is hard to be seen in the present time. Very few people choose to stand for their faith than blindly follow the majority. Options and avenues are more and easier. Sometimes, we do not feel there is a necessity to stand up for Christ Jesus; we easily opt for imitating the crowd around us. And today, we could look at this young man, Daniel, who was one of the captives in Babylonia and was brought into King Nebuchadnezzar's palace, to be observed, selected and trained for royal service in Babylonia, and stands as one Biblical example of spiritual determination.
The king had ordered to “select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men.” He had ordered his staff to “make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace." He had also asked his staff to "train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.” The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. The young men were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service (Daniel 01: 03-05). Such an immense future and opportunity at hand to become an officer in the 'Royal Service of Babylonia,' but the Bible says "Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods" (Daniel 01: 08). Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were ready to put the Lord and the life set apart for Him as their priority than falling for an opportunity that will set them in the Royal Service. Reading through The Book of Daniel, chapter 01, we come across some of the important spiritual lessons that may help us live a spiritually-determined life like Daniel.
Daniel knew what was unacceptable in the Lord's sight.
Whatever the different reasons that may be behind Daniel's refusal of the food and wine from the king's kitchen, what we may take from this chapter is that Daniel, as a young man from Judah was brought up in such a way that he had the knowledge of the right and wrong. We will be listing out some of the suggested reasons for this refusal in the later points, but at the outset, what matters more is Daniel knew as a young man what was acceptable in the Lord's sight! The spiritual upbringing of Daniel was such that it stood strong as a pillar behind this spiritual determination. And today, it reminds us of the importance of the spiritual upbringing of young people, in our homes, in our churches and in our societies, making them well-grounded in the word of the Lord so that they what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of the Lord.
Daniel was determined not to defile himself.
As a young man, away from home, away from the Israelite environment, away from those who may question, far away from where matters of spiritual discipline and purity may matter, Daniel was still determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to him by the king. The suggested reasons behind Daniel's refusal are that the Babylonians did not share the Israelite dietary laws or the food would have been offered to idols or for the purpose of ritual cleanliness or a kind of food chastity or even the refusal was a way of mourning during captivity. Whatever the reasons could be, one thing that we learn from this is that Daniel never wanted to defile himself. He did not want to spoil himself. He was determined not to make himself impure. Today, among all the opportunities and temptations around us, we find Daniel as a young man, with all the desires and ambitions in his heart, still stood for being set apart for the Lord, determined to be pure and clean in every possible way.
Daniel negotiated his determination.
It has become common these days for youngsters to raise a flag, make some loud noises, give shocks, hoot and shout, make fun of, become angry, curse or even refrain from the entire process and express their disagreement or refusal of something. But let us look at what Daniel and his three friends did when they were in disagreement about what was being served to them as food. They did not do any of the above or refrain from the entire system (It is true, as captives, they also did not have the option to refrain). What Daniel did was he properly communicated his determination and negotiated that in the right way. He was ready to find alternatives. "Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods". And, then knowing, he needs further negotiation, "Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 01: 08, 11). And that is another lesson we learn from Daniel. We must learn to communicate and negotiate our spiritual determinations even in the most negative situations while holding on to ourselves in faith.
Daniel had confidence in the Lord.
It makes me wonder how confident Daniel was in the Lord. Daniel easily proposes a ten-days controlled experiment to their attendant. It was only an experiment of the hypothesis for the king's staff; for Daniel, it was an already established theory! The Book of Daniel says "Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.” The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others" (Daniel 01: 11-16). What confidence in the power of the Lord! And this confidence in the Lord is the spiritual beauty we find in this young man's life. How confident are we in the Lord?
Daniel received the Lord's reward.
All this determination, communication, negotiation and confidence did not go wasted, did not go unanswered. The Lord rewarded Daniel and his friends with His assured promises. God gave Daniel (Belteshazzar), Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach) and Azariah (Abednego) an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams. When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom. Daniel remained in the royal service until the first year of the reign of King Cyrus" (Daniel 01: 17-21). What an amazing testimony of being faithful and being rewarded!
Today, this is an invitation. The Lord is calling us to be like Daniel in a world full of opportunities, avenues and ambitions, and to be true to Him. This is a call to remind ourselves that we are set apart for the Lord and we have to be determined not to defile ourselves. Let us be vigilant about what is acceptable and unacceptable in the Lord's sight, let us be determined not to defile ourselves, let us learn to negotiate our faith in the society we live in, and let us have confidence in the Lord that He will answer, and let us receive rewards for the faithfulness and the hard and rough road we had to come through in this path of spiritual determination.
May the blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit, be with us and help us, as we continue to be determined not to defile ourselves and serve the Lord faithfully.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
"Refiner's Fire"
by Jeremy Riddle - Worship Moment
