SATURDAY, APRIL 7
Daniel 1:8, 12
Matthew 5:29

“And if thy right eye offend thee,
pluck it out, and cast it from thee …”

OUR ACTIONS INFLUENCE OTHERS

There is a significant correlation between Daniel 1:8 and Daniel 1:12. Verse 8 says that Daniel “purposed in his heart” (i.e. his own heart) to stand firm on convictions that came from faithful instruction. In verse 12 he said, “Prove thy servants.” He spoke for himself plus his three companions!

May we not assume, then, that Daniel’s convictions, actions, and witness had a positive effect upon his companions? We do know that Daniel’s attitudes became the model for the behaviour of many Jews four centuries later when they suffered horrible persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes. This Syrian king realized that he would have to force the Jews to abandon their dietary laws, among other things, in order to destroy their distinctive witness to God and to be absorbed into his Hellenistic culture. “The contemporary writings tell us that many Jews refused to ‘defile themselves,’ and chose to die rather than give way on this issue” (Roland Wallace, The Lord is King, p. 43). The Book of Daniel was well known in Israel in those days, and the account of Daniel’s spiritual faith and obedience was greatly used by the Spirit of God to encourage many thousands of His people in times of severe testing.

In our society today there are many tensions that should force us to face moral issues squarely, take a firm stand, and state a de finitive “No!” When we resist things that would ‘defile’ us, the outcome is twofold:
(1) We are fulfilling the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect to the ultimate importance of the purity of our heart/mind.
(2) We are encouraging others to live pure and holy lives that are pleasing to the Master we love.

THOUGHT: “You do not test the resources of God until you try the impossible” (F.B. Meyer).
PRAYER: My Lord and my God, help me through your Spirit to stand firm on the precepts of Thy Word!