MONDAY, JUNE 11
Daniel 10:1-4
Matthew 5:3-6

“Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness …”

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN …

Modern living is increasingly pleasure-oriented. Physical and sensual appetites crave for satisfaction. Ease and enjoyment are the order of the day. The demand of society is for food, fun and fashion; the more the better. Even Christians and believers are caught in the web of a hedonistic existence. Our generation has an urgent lesson to learn from Daniel. This man of God had every excuse for self-indulgence and ease, a man in his mid-eighties and having earned his rest. But we see him in deep mourning!

Look at Daniel 10:2-3 again: “… I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all …” Why did he mourn? Certainly it was not for himself. Some mourn because of business failure, handicaps in life, broken love affairs. Not Daniel. He mourned for one thing only. He was concerned for his nation, his beloved holy city, and the honour of his God.

Daniel’s one consuming passion was the repentance of his nation from their sins, the rebuilding of God’s holy city from its ruined condition, and the glory of God restored. These concerns weighed heavily on his heart. He had a sense of deep humiliation because the nation had dishonoured the name of God.
.
… FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED

What a worthy example of godly sorrow. Our Lord promised comfort (Matt 5:4). Even as Daniel mourned, the Lord comforted him! Three times Daniel was called “greatly beloved.” For his godly jealousy for God’s honour, he was greatly beloved of God. For his mourning, a visit by the Lord Himself! For his hungering and thirsting after the truth, God gave him yet another vision, and this with a difference: Whereas in previous times he was perplexed (Dan 7:15, 28, 8:27), on this occasion he “… had understanding of the vision” (Dan 10:1).

THOUGHT: When should Christians mourn?
PRAYER: I thank Thee, Father, for forgiving my sins.