Daniel 6
Today’s Passage: Daniel 6
“ the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions… 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. 10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously” (Daniel 6:7b, 9-10).
Wow. This story of Daniel and the Lion’ s Den is not a cute and palatable Sunday school story as we tend to have been raised to understand it. Focusing our energy on the verses above, we see that Daniel puts his life on the line in order to continue - to persevere - in what it means to walk faithfully with God.
The last five words in Daniel 6:10 are very important. We might ask the question of why Daniel did not just pivot once he found out the document and injunction were officially signed by the King. Daniel did not pivot - choosing to pray in a different location - because he understood that to do so in his scenario would be to rob God of glory. In Daniel 6:5, it is clear that these men, who found Daniel in the same spot he had always prayed, sought to bring him harm and to test the God that he worshiped. Daniel, surely aware of this plan of theirs, chooses to stand firm in his faith and not let his worship be hindered by the edict of some worldly authority. Rather, he continues with what he had done previously…continuing in his worship of God each day.
I want to challenge us today to wrestle with the following questions:
1. Where in my life has my worship of God and walk with Him been overly influenced and
dampened by the authorities in my life?
2. Are there places in my life where I need to be bold - as Daniel was bold - in my faith
even if it costs me losing my job? … frustrating an earthly relationship?... creating tension in my workplace?
3. Daniel knew that he would face death if he continued glorifying God in spite of the king’s edict. Would I truly be willing to lay down my life in order to glorify God each
day?...today?
Written By: Steven Thompson
“ the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions… 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. 10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously” (Daniel 6:7b, 9-10).
Wow. This story of Daniel and the Lion’ s Den is not a cute and palatable Sunday school story as we tend to have been raised to understand it. Focusing our energy on the verses above, we see that Daniel puts his life on the line in order to continue - to persevere - in what it means to walk faithfully with God.
The last five words in Daniel 6:10 are very important. We might ask the question of why Daniel did not just pivot once he found out the document and injunction were officially signed by the King. Daniel did not pivot - choosing to pray in a different location - because he understood that to do so in his scenario would be to rob God of glory. In Daniel 6:5, it is clear that these men, who found Daniel in the same spot he had always prayed, sought to bring him harm and to test the God that he worshiped. Daniel, surely aware of this plan of theirs, chooses to stand firm in his faith and not let his worship be hindered by the edict of some worldly authority. Rather, he continues with what he had done previously…continuing in his worship of God each day.
I want to challenge us today to wrestle with the following questions:
1. Where in my life has my worship of God and walk with Him been overly influenced and
dampened by the authorities in my life?
2. Are there places in my life where I need to be bold - as Daniel was bold - in my faith
even if it costs me losing my job? … frustrating an earthly relationship?... creating tension in my workplace?
3. Daniel knew that he would face death if he continued glorifying God in spite of the king’s edict. Would I truly be willing to lay down my life in order to glorify God each
day?...today?
Written By: Steven Thompson
No Comments