Our Mission for Serving Jesus by Serving Others

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Daniel

Hi! I hope all of you are doing well! We're continuing our series about young people in the Bible with a post about Daniel. I'm sure a lot of you have heard the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. Some of you may be thinking, wasn't Daniel an older person then? You would be correct. But did you know that when Daniel was younger, he was still being a leader for God?
The book of Daniel starts off by telling about how the king of Babylon, King Necuchadnezzar (say that five times fast!), had taken over Judah. He sent out people to gather the fittest, most handsome, all around best young men and teenage boys from Jerusalem. Among the boys captured were Daniel and some of his friends. They were brought to the palace for training to be new additions to the king's officials. While they were there, they were served ribs and wine and other foods that had been offered to idols. Daniel knew that God did not want his friends and him to eat these things. Daniel asked to be served fresh vegetables and water instead. This seems like an easy task, but it could have gotten Daniel and his friends into a LOT of trouble! But Daniel obeyed the laws God had given him.
Do you know how the story ends? After ten days, Daniel and his friends were tested against those who had eaten the king's food. The ones who had eaten vegetables looked and performed much better than the others. This caused the officials to give everyone vegetables and water! God blessed Daniel and his friends with special gifts, too, because of their obedience.
When it was tough, Daniel spoke up for his faith in God. It could have ended badly for Daniel, but God blessed him in the end. We can do this, too! Don't be afraid to stand up for what you know is right when you're faced with these tough situations. And always eat your vegetables (just kidding). :)

In Service to the King,
Sarah

1 comment:

Good News Bearer said...

Daniel shows us a good example of the kind of life we are supposed to live in a situation when we are surrounded by unbelievers. In my workplace we are having a small Bible study group. We are studying from the book of Daniel now. Truly! it tells us about God’s faithfulness and how we have to stand for God in difficult situations.