Daniel
in the Lion's Den....Remaining Faithful
Saturday,
September 14, 2013
Scriptures:
Daniel 6:1 - 28
In
the 6th
chapter of the book of Daniel, is the story of persecution that
Daniel experienced in his later years. It is estimated that Daniel
was probably around 80 years old at the time. He was one of three
governors over the Persian Empire. Darius was the ruler of Babylon.
Daniel was faithful to performing the
duties of the “secular” job (governor) that God had placed him
in. He also faithfully sought God three times a day. Because of his
faithfulness, Daniel was recognized by the king. The bible says that
he (Daniel) “distinguished himself above the governors and
satraps.” See Daniel 6:3. So, the other governors and satraps were
jealous and sought to find something against Daniel. Knowing
Daniel's habit of praying and seeking God three times a day, they
wrote a decree and convinced king Darius to sign it. It forbid
anyone petitioning any god or man other than the king for thirty
days.
But even though Daniel knew of the
petition, he continued to pray to God. Simply being faithful to God. The others told the king of this. Even though Darius didn't want
to, he saw no way around the decree he signed....He threw Daniel in
the lion's den. In fact, Darius was so distraught that he fasted and
could not sleep through the night.
God had a different plan though. Through this set of circumstances, in a culture that seemed
“anti-God”, God used this. He (God) saved Daniel from the den
of lions. Darius recognized that Daniel's God had saved him from
the lions. It caused a change of heart in Darius. Darius passed
another decree. This one gave glory and honor to God. It recognized
God as the living God “who rules forever”.
In effect, the actions and faith of
one man (Daniel) who chose to remain faithful to his God indirectly
influenced a nation for God.
How could God use each of us in our
daily “hum-drum” lives if we were to simply be faithful to what
He has shown us and called us to?
In Christ our Lord,
Don
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