“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.”

- Daniel 1: 8

In a study of the book of Daniel I did recently, I learned a really good lesson. After Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem, he captures some of the best men of Jerusalem and Daniel and his friends are among this crowd. Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are met with many changes and challenges. First their names had been changed and they were given food and education more in line with the Babylonian culture than their Jewish traditions. The purpose of this was to instruct these Hebrew men in the ways of Babylonian government.

There was a big problem for Daniel and his buddies in eating the king’s food. For them, this would go against their typical Hebrew diet. The men politely declined eating this food and rather than conforming to the norms of the day, and with the king’s permission, they abstained from his rich and bountiful feasts. For ten days they ate vegetables and drank water. Now, of course there is a good nutrition lesson in this portion of scripture but that isn’t the main point I took away from this part of the scripture. (Even though I probably should have noted the nutritional instruction here!)

What struck me is their approach to these challenges. They did not compromise their values, they were completely and unreservedly loyal to the Lord. The men were polite with their dissension and trusted God with the outcome.

Be like Daniel and his friends and look to God. Look to God for His direction and His leading. Look to God to handle the difficult situations in life. Look to God to keep our minds focused and purposed like Daniel and his friends. These men trusted the Lord.

These four Hebrew men aren’t as remembered for denying themselves the indulgences of the king’s feasts as they are remembered for refusing to worship the king’s idol and therefore ending up in a fiery furnace. They leave us with good examples to follow when we have hard choices to make. They also left us with helpful illustrations of things we can pray for our children.