Daniel 6: 6 -10
6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that 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. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 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.
I would like to thank God for His word which is alive and active. I am blessed that we can read His word and something new will present itself each time. In reading this familiar passage last Wednesday during Bible study God allowed me to see something new.
Daniel's behavior during this time of great pressure is to be admired. We often praise Daniel for his boldness in the face of adversity. I was also encouraged by how Daniel heard the new decree that was set in place and went about his business...as usual. I believe that Daniel gave us a model to follow when presented with opposition in the form of government statutes and maybe even culture. He did not try to demand that the decree be destroyed or that another decree be created to replace it. He remained faithful to what he knew to do.
New laws are created with the hope of removing God from daily life. This can be frustrating for some who grew up with the God of the Bible being woven into every part of daily life, voluntarily and involuntarily. I understand the frustration. We know God to be the best thing that has happened to us and we want the world to know and to also have the same revelation! So how do we respond as the Church? We carry on and continue business as usual!
We keep praying
We keep reading the word of God
We keep sharing the Gospel
We continue to love our neighbor as Jesus taught
We continue to die to ourselves daily
We maintain our hope in the resurrected Savior!
I wonder if David even broke a sweat when he learned that he was not allowed, by law, to pray to his God.
But why was David able to carry on?
He actually knew and believed that God was real.
Notice how a decree had to be made in order for King Darius to be glorified. David knew that God was God with or without a decree. God does not need man to make Him God. He is God all by himself! I believe that some of us respond to opposition in a way to make God real. However, I believe that He would prefer us to carry on and let Him be God!
Be encouraged saints for Jesus is alive!
Song recommendation: You Hold It All (Live) by Travis Ryan
Picture description: This photo was taken at the end of the Billy Graham Library tour (which I highly recommend). I love this photo and it seemed to fit with this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment