Daily Devotionals

Voice of the Lord

Devotional: 24th of Nisan

Dani'el resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or the wine he drank (Daniel 1:8).

Talk about a potentially tragic life! As a young Jewish boy, Daniel was taken captive from Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) by the hated Babylonians. He became separated from his parents and was forced to serve in the king's court. Daniel could have become bitter against God and given up his faith. Instead, at this critical juncture in his life, he made a decision to faithfully serve the God of Israel. This decision affected his entire life, the course of Israel's history, and even the fate of the great Babylonian empire.

In Hebrew, Daniel and his three friends are described as yeladim (usually translated "children," but "young teenagers" would be more accurate). Rabbi Ibn Ezra believed that Daniel was fifteen years old.

Daniel and his friends were instructed to eat the king's meat and drink his wine. Why was this bad? The meat was unclean according to the biblical laws of kashrut (ritual cleanness), probably including the meat of animals the Torah called unclean or of animals that had been strangled. The wine had likely been offered to idols and could have drawn God's people into idolatrous ceremonies. Daniel resolved (literally, "set his heart") to separate from the world and follow God. He chose to take his stand on this issue and God blessed him for it.

Decisions to live for the Lord begin in the heart. We must choose not to compromise with the world, but to be like a city set on a hill for all to see. As the world gets darker, let us become brighter. Let us follow the example of this young, godly Jewish boy who chose God and changed the world.

...purpose in my heart to serve the Lord. I will not compromise with the world, but I will let the light of Yeshua shine brightly within me.

DC