May 28th

May 28th -- 1 Daniel (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%201&version=NLT)

Go read.

So I actually started (and then had to drop because I got so busy - but I am finishing over the summer) a Beth Moore study on Daniel. It talks about how Daniel resisted Babylon just like we need to resist today's tempting culture/society. Daniel and thousands (that's important) of other young men were taken from Jerusalem to be brought to Babylon, trained for the king of Babylon's service for a few years, then the best would be selected to serve. There are four men out of these thousands who chose not to give in to Babylon, and stand strong for God. These were Daniel (God is my judge), Hananiah (the Lord shows grace), Mishael (who is like God?), and Azariah (the Lord helps). They were re-named, upon arriving, to, respectively, Belteshazzar (Bel, protect his life!), Shadrach (under the command of Aku), Meshach (who is like Aku?) and Abednego (servant of Nego/Nebo). We already see how the Babylons tried to assimilate them by changing their names to ones that honored the Babylonian gods (idols).
Then we have the food. All men brought to be trained could eat from the king's table, which would have had feasts of the best food in the land. However, back then eating at another's table was like a covenant stating they were a friend not an enemy. Daniel and his friends refused to eat the king's food, recognizing they could not enter a covenant with him while serving God - instead they ate only of things grown from seed, keeping God's commands at the time. God blessed them for this and made them stand out as far better than the other men (stronger, healthier, learned better, etc) Daniel was also given the ability to interpret dreams.  Now, in today's society, indulging in sin is like signing off a covenant with the devil, in a way, like eating at the king's table would have been making a covenant with him. When we willingly and knowingly sin, it's like  eating off the devil's table - it seems to have all the best things, and would be incredibly hard to resist. Yet, like Daniel and his friends when they resisted, we will be blessed for resisting. Daniel and his friends were actually far better off than the men eating from the king's table. When we intentionally abstain from sin, God will bless us for that.
Babylonian culture was rich and indulgent, and very self-focused. It is a lot like a Biblical times version of today's culture. Society today becomes so caught up in focusing on our self and our own indulgences. It disguises sin as beautiful and tempting, when we are actually signing our self off by taking part of it. Like Daniel and his friends were attempted to be dragged into the culture, ours tries to lure us in. I mean, "L'Oreal - because you're worth it" or "Indulge yourself" in loads of chocolate commercials or even just "You deserve it". Society tells us we want it and are worth it all - we just have to go get it. Often, we do, too. But we need to learn to be more careful. Products are not evil, just because they use those sort of slogans, however indulgence can become dangerous. We begin to put ourselves above God, and pleasure over all else. This is when it becomes a problem. We are always being faced with things trying to lure us in, but if Daniel and his friends could resist in an unfamiliar environment, miles from home, with their lives threatened if people knew of their faith, then we can do it, too.

That's all for today! God bless! Shalom!

P.S. Check out that study. It is totally worth it.