LEARNING DAILY

Daniel 6:4, Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.

There is another aspect of Daniel’s life of having “an excellent spirit was in him”. Daniel had earned the respect and admiration of many, including King Darius. This was also seen by the governors and satraps causing jealousy and resentment. Their jealousy became resentment which led to plans to trap Daniel into wrongdoing against the king. They convinced King Darius to issue a decree “that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions”.

These officials hated the way the king respected Daniel. Even worse, they could find nothing that Daniel had done wrong to accuse him with. The only thing they could think to do was to get Daniel to choose between following His God or to follow the king’s decree. Let’s pause here and see the relevance of this today. When you strive to follow God as closely as you can by walking the narrow way, people are going to see it! There will be those people who become jealous of the praise and rewards you receive from excellent work done. 1 Peter 2:12 encourages Believers to live their life in a way that brings glory to God to those around them. “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.” People are watching you! Those in the world are still accusing Believers, Christians, of doing wrong things – often falsely! What do you do? You focus on walking the narrow way, being obedient to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s leading, by making right choices! Hopefully your refusal to participate in the wrong things, in sinful practices will eventually attract them to our Father in heaven!

This is to encourage each of you who reads this. Your choice to walk in God’s righteousness and His faithfulness will be honored by God! As you consider Daniel’s integrity and his decision to be unwavering and diligent in following God, you should be strengthened in your ability to face the jealousy and false accusations you might face from those around you. Daniel faced this situation with integrity and faith, trusting in God and His faithfulness and His provision. Yes, he was thrown into a den of lions. But God! God shut the mouths of the lions and preserved Daniel.

David continued to pray when opposition tried to stop him. Opposition to Christianity and Believers walking the narrow way is growing. Believers must stay true to Biblical truths and refuse to compromise biblical principles; we must stand firm in our commitment to walking in honesty, righteousness, and truth when faced with opposition and criticism. It is not difficult to do when we remain committed to being in God’s Word and committed to prayer, just as Daniel was. When faced with opposition stay committed to and trust in God’s plan for your life, knowing He will guide you and be with you just as He was with Daniel. Find strength to walk the narrow way by surrendering all concerns and fears to God, trusting in Him.

Daniel showed through his life that he loved God – no one needed to ask him about his faith. If we love God and seek to be like Jesus Christ, we are going to have to go against the beliefs found in this world. Daniel knew he was going against the edict of the king; when he did, he expressed his thanks to God. You and I need to do the same thing in this evil world!