* Daniel - Sold Out – Faith & Loyalty [3]

 

And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.  Daniel 1:5

Instead of giving them what some would have thought good enough for captives, he offered them the very best the kingdom had to give.  Subliminally acclimating them to their new environment.

Although the provisions made by the king were generous, Daniel and his companions had a problem on their hands. The food and drink, especially that favored by heathen kings, consisted of much that they couldn’t eat or drink without disobeying God. The diet was contrary to the dietary rules ordained by God according to Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11.  Also, some portion of the ‘delicacies’ most likely had been offered in sacrifice to the idols of Babylon. So, eating it may have represented a kind of communion service with the Babylonian gods.
 
If you were in this situation, what would you have done? Everybody else apparently went along with the program. Why should we be different? Why should we make waves? The beginning of the subliminal acclimation; make us feel comfortable, warm and fuzzy.  After all, they were captives in a foreign land; probably being treated better there than in their own home. So why shouldn’t they be happy about the treatment they were being offered? Besides, what could they do? They had no leverage with the powers that were. Unless God Himself should give it, they had no power and no influence.  They were just young adolescents  

 But they did have one thing:  Faith in their God!

 How easy it would have been to rationalize the situation, to say, “There’s nothing we can do. Let’s just go with the flow and make the best of a bad situation. After all, God will understand.”

 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.  Daniel 1:8
 
Understand that the real issue was not the food and drink, but loyalty to God and standing firm in our faith. Food and drink were only the outward manifestations of this issue:

è     Will they be obedient and loyal to God no matter what the cost to themselves?

è      Or will they bow down to the will of man?

è      Will they compromise their position with God for earthly favors?

è      Will they use the difficulty of their circumstance as an excuse for disobedience?

 We are talking about being sold out to God; our faith and loyalty to the one we call our heavenly father!  Daniel and his friends had already made their decision. They, like every one of us must also do, answered Joshua’s challenge.

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . .” Joshua 24:15

Every one of us has a choice to make. Either we’ll serve the gods of this world, or we’ll serve the LORD? 

"No one can serve two masters; . . . he’ll will hate the one and love the other, or else he’ll be loyal to the one and despise the other. Matthew 6:24

Which is the same as saying that you cannot serve both God and the world - you have to make a choice. The issue is not tradition – the way we’ve always done it [and sometimes don’t even no why] or legalism – the excessive adherence to the law verses faith. The issue is loyalty to God versus obedience to men or compromise for convenience’s sake.  This is full surrender to God; being sold out, even at what may appear to be great personal loss. The decision that Daniel and his companions made could have cost them everything. But that was a price they were willing to pay. This is real living faith in action, believing in their God and being sold out; fully committed to Him despite the cost.

Let’s not forget, faith is not so much what we say or profess or how we feel or what we think. Words and feelings come cheap. Faith is what we live.
 
Every profession of faith is worthless if it is not lived. Either we trust God to be able to handle every situation, no matter how hopeless it may appear to be, or we compromise saying, “God will understand, He knows the situation I’m in, What else could I have done?”  But, the life we live, especially when things look the most desperate, will tell if our faith is true or false. A person will live the faith they have.  

It's our faithfulness in the things that we most often consider to be small and trivial that is the true test of our character. If we’re not faithful in that which we consider to be a small matter - if we compromise on the little things in our life - we won’t be true when the big tests of life come our way. It’s not so easy to change the course of our life when the crisis comes. The way we lived when things were easy is [more likely than not] the way we’ll go when the going gets tough.

Easy words to say; words come cheap. But when we face an overwhelming situation that literally staggers our faith, what do we do? There’s a little prayer in the Bible that we should always keep in mind. Short, simple, but very effective, and Daniel and his friends may very well have prayed something like it.

"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  Mark 9:24

 They stepped out on the faith they had and trusted God with the rest. They decided to seek God and his kingdom above all else, and trust God to provide them with the food and drink that they needed. This is real faith. A quiet determination to follow God no matter where, no matter what. Trusting God in every situation.  Sounds like what Jesus said:

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  Matthew 6:31-33

So, Daniel and those like-minded stepped out and asked that they only be given the type of food and drink they were accustomed to in their native land:

Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king." So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. "Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants."  Daniel 1:9-13

Daniel and his companions didn’t allow their convictions to make them discourteous. A lesson in life that many of us Christians could use today. But rather, they very politely requested from the proper authority permission to be served a simple vegetarian diet.
 
Even though God had “given up” the kingdom of Israel as a whole, He still stood by individuals who trusted, believed and were loyal to Him. God stood by Daniel and his companions even in their captivity - and God still stands by His people today.  He’s waiting for His children to  

¨  humble themselves, and

¨  pray, and

¨  seek Him, and

¨  turn from their wicked ways;

 then will I hear from heaven . . .  2 Chronicles 7:14

Because of their faith and loyalty, “God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs."  And not only that, “God gave” Daniel and his friends learning and skill in all letters and wisdom.
 
So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.  Daniel 1:14-15
 
Our God is a God who gives. Service to God is never a loss, no matter what the circumstances. But it is forever a gain to those who believe. The knowledge and skill that Daniel and his friends possessed was not theirs by their own ability, but was given them by God.
 
Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore, they served before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.  Daniel 1:18
 
They were better than everybody else in their field, but don’t miss the point -- The reason they were better was not that they were naturally superior to everybody else, but because it was a God given gift.
 
God gives no guarantee that things will go smooth and easy for us in this life. And you can be sure that the devil is out to make absolutely sure that it doesn’t.

 “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  1 Corinthians 2:9

Trials and tribulations we will have in this world. But what is the very worse that the world can do to us in comparison with the glories of heaven?   Apostle Paul said:  

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  Romans 8:18 

No doubt, we will have troubles and trials; some of us are going through right now.  But these are not to be the focus of our thoughts. Don’t dwell on all the evils, all the injustices, all the wrongs in this world. The Bible counsels us with these words:

Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.  Philippians 4:8

And to that

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Romans 12:12

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