Daniel 1:8
Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon when God gave Juday over to captivity due to their idolatry, greed, violence, and the oppression of the poor. God even calls Nebby “my servant” to indicate His use of Babylon as a vessel.
Daniel and his three friends were singled out because of their youth, appearance, and ability to learn. The king appointed them a provision of his own delicacies over three years of training.
But Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portions of the king’s delicacies.” He brought his request to the chief of the eunuchs, the man in charge over them. Daniel asked for only vegetables and water, convincing the chief eunuch to give them a trial period of ten days, since the chief was afraid of the king’s judgment if he saw his prized captives looking sickly.
At the end of ten days, Daniel and his friends looked even better than the young men who ate the king’s delicacies. So from what I can gather, Daniel and his friends ate only vegetables and water for three years of their training and education.
Now, obviously the point here is not to eat only vegetables and water for three years, unless the Lord leads you specifically in that.
But there is an important principle here. As Americans, the wealth of kings is at our fingertips. Does that necessarily mean it is God’s will we partake in them? Daniel would not, understanding that to take part in luxuries afforded him would “defile” him. He trusted in God for his health and favor. This was a risk for himself, his friends, and the stewards over him.
Daniel purposefully lived a lifestyle where God would have to supernaturally provide or he would fail. Daniel would not allow the king to even pretend glory in Daniel’s favor.
Another aspect of this, I feel, is the idea of being an independent agent. Daniel was a slave, a captive, but he was proactive in being different, set apart, and making his own choices.
Daniel “purposed in his heart.” This took conscious choice and an act of will to be set apart. Daniel was intentional about this.
As someone who has made similar choices in my life to live a life like this, it proves very difficult. Surely the other captives and trainees couldn’t understand why someone, when given the free opportunity, would choose not to partake in the king’s luxuries and delicacies. It is the same today. People, even well-meaning Christians, have a hard time understanding why you would choose to live without luxuries in our culture when they are readily available.
I can tell you, as Daniel learned, God is faithful and the discipline of such simplicity is liberating. One of the main dangers to our spirituality, as Jesus explained in the parable of the sower, is the “cares of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth”, thorns that rise up and kill the life and fruit God desires for us to produce.
The cares of this life are therefore in conflict with the Kingdom of God. Too often Christians equate the cares of this life with participating in the Kingdom of God. Jesus clearly felt the opposite. He continually called those that followed him to leave everything and give everything away, not just the rich young ruler.
It is not coincidence this is the first thing Daniel dealt with in his book, and therefore the first principle we discuss. It was fundamental to God’s favor and Daniel’s victory while a captive and serving under a foreign king. He had to establish first his unwillingness to be subject to any ruler other than the true God of Israel. Then he could act in complete freedom.
Seek first the Kingdom, then all things you need will be added. Is not the body more than clothes, life more than food? The “Gentiles (those bound by this world)” seek after these things.
I can’t tell you what “king’s delicacies” defile you. Whatever keeps you from regular and intimate fellowship with the saints should be an initial red flag, but other things could be revealed to you as the Lord wills if you would “purpose in your heart” not to be defiled by the things of this world, to be set apart, to be a testimony in this.
Thoughts?
Peace.
As I mentioned before, for me it’s video games. Not only is it a time sucker, but recent news shows that our excessive interest in entertainment actually hurts others. I don’t think that means the occasional movie or game is wrong, but let’s face it, no one does that. Maybe what I’m trying to say is escapist entertainment, stuff that doesn’t actually challenge us in any way.
But try explaining it, even to Christian friends.
My little brother, Britt. I love your heart, as does the Lord. Idol hunting is something that we all must constantly be aware of in our lives. Idols come in such subtle forms to us, especially as Christians. The enemy knows that blatant sin will be too obvious for most of us, so he craftily creates “good” things to draw us away, to ensnare, to subtly choke us. As my late husband, Larry, used to say, “The good is the enemy of the best.” A lot of our idols these days are not what we see with our eyes. They are things like approval, comfort, our image to others, being in control, others needing me or us needing others more than God. For others it could be finding our self-worth in our work, in achievement, materialism, feeling loved only when we are suffering, having to do fun things to give us self-worth. Our families can even be idols if we must have their approval or get our self-worth from being a “family”. Marriage can be an idol for the single. There are so many. And likely the deadliest of all is the religious idol…having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Lord, help us all in this hour to rid ourselves from any hindrances to entering into Your Kingdom. Once again it all goes back to a personal relationship with the Father, hearing Him and obeying Him; loving Him more than our own lives. This is the life of the overcomer. This was the life of Daniel and the Hebrew children. They did not compromise. They did not love their lives here on earth more than the Lord, even if it meant death. It was the word of their testimony, Jesus in the fire with them and even though death was the result of not obeying the king’s decree, they did not bow the knee to that idol. I pray that we will all be the Revelation 12:11 Overcomer.
I have been thinking of life and things and what our balance should be in America where so many things are so convenient and available. Being in Korea and now being here a Shelterwood with less space and things than in Korea, I am just realizing the freedom there is in not owning a lot of things. As I think about next year and how easy it could be for me to get distracted by a lot of things, as I will be making decisions about possessions and how I want to live, I have thought about this concept you are talking about and how some of the things I desire seem foreign and strange to people–even Christians.
Also, this same concept is applied to my time. Though my life here has minimal “free time”–my life is simple outside of my work. I am almost debt free. I don’t have a lot of things to distract me. I don’t have a significant other. I have good relationships with my family members. I don’t have time for TV and don’t miss it. I am not used to being able to call people whenever I want so I am not a slave to my phone (as I once was), etc.
This simplicity allows me to invest in people in my free time. It allows me to pursue God and not run out of time in the day. TV can be a huge distraction to me. The internet as well. Reading is an addiction at times that affects relationships with others. I don’t really have time for much of these things this year, but will I keep my life this way when I do have the freedom to do these things? Or do I want to purpose in my to be set apart–even when others don’t understand.
I don’t know that I really shared anything new, these are things I have just been contemplating as I do have decisions to make about next year and I connected with this entry!