The Third Sunday of Advent, December 14

DANIEL: GOD'S MAN OF PURPOSE

Daniel 1, 2, and 6

What had been prophesied had now come to pass—Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, and took many of the people into exile.  He even ordered his court officials to bring some of the young men from the royal family to be trained in order to help rule his huge kingdom—Daniel and his friends were in that number.  Verse 8 tells us: "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, not with the wine which he drank…"  It came to pass that God put a tender love and favor for Daniel in the heart of his overseer, and Daniel asked him, "Please test us ten days—give us nothing but vegetables and water, and then compare our health with the others who will eat all of the rich foods."   At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his friends did look healthier than the others.  From that moment on, God gave them knowledge and wisdom, for God had a plan and God intended these young people to be a part of it.

In the second year of the reign of the king, he had some dreams that troubled him.  He summoned his astrologers and sorcerers, but they wanted to know what the dream was before they would interpret it.  No, the king wanted them to tell him the dream, as well as the interpretation.  Since they couldn't, he had them executed.  The king's servant went to Daniel and told him what the king wanted.  The next day, he took Daniel to the king, and the young man said, "No wise man can explain the meaning; but there is a God in heaven who will show what will happen in the days to come."  When Daniel went home, the Lord showed him the meaning of the dream in a night vision, and it came to pass, it was a dream that prophesied the coming and goings of kingdoms—even to the last of days.  When the king heard of this, he fell down prostrate, saying, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings…"  God had a plan!

After several years, Darius the Mede was the new king—and of the three presidents set over the whole kingdom, Daniel was his favorite.  The others, being jealous, went to King Darius and asked him to issue a decree that only allowed prayer to be offered to him—they knew Daniel wouldn't obey.  He didn't—in fact, he went to his upstairs bedroom, flung open the windows, and prayed fervently.  When the king's men told him this, he was greatly distressed and tried everything to save Daniel.  But he had signed the order—Daniel would go to the lion's den.  At early dawn, the king got up and hurried to the den, and cried in anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?"  Daniel answered, "O king, live forever, my God sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions."  The king was overjoyed, and those who had accused Daniel were thrown to the lions instead—crushed before they even hit the ground.  When you desire with your whole heart to follow His plan for your life, you will not be done until you have completed your purpose.  Submission to the Lord—that is our purpose!

~ C. June Johnson