A Devotional Thought From Daniel

Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the kings meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.  Daniel 1:12, 13

            It’s a sort of strange scenario to those of us in the 21^st century. Four Jewish captives of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians were being groomed to be leaders in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. The King wanted them well taken care of, so that  they would be able to reach their potential and be useful to him. So Nebuchadnezzar instructed that all the young prisoners, from whatever country they were taken, should eat the very same diet Nebuchadnezzar himself would eat. Roast beef, roast lamb, roast pork, fish, sweet cakes, breads, candy, fruit, vegetables, red wine, white wine, hard liquor,  freshwater, and whatever exotic treats came before the King. Sounds like a good menu.

But Daniel, and by extension Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, apparently had a spiritual objection to eating those foods and requested what might be called a religious exemption from eating them. They wanted nothing but vegetables (pulse) and water.

Now Melzar, the palace representative in charge of those boys, was fearful that they would not be as healthy as the other conscripts from foreign nations who were eating the full royal diet. He was afraid for his own life if the special students were to get weak and sickly from just having water and vegetables. Eastern potentate Neb was not above executing those who had failed him in big or small issues.

Daniel said, just try it out for ten days, at the end of that time compare our health to those eating the full diet, and you decide if we can continue. Test it out. See if our plan works.

Of course, it did. The four Jewish captive believers  honored God by their adherence to kosher law.

Let me leap to the gospel message of the New Testament. Here’s the plan: trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you will be forgiven and saved from the wrath against your sins. You will receive the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in your life. You will be given a new outlook on living, and relationships, and you will possess eternal life from the moment you believe.

In response to God’s biblical plan some may react like Melzar, or Nicodemus, How can these thngs be? (John 3:9). Daniel’s answer was, try it out and see. Jesus answer could be what He said in John 7:16, 17: My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.

Test it! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31).You will experience its truth personally in your life.

A Devotional Thought From Jeremiah

Moab is destroyed: her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.     Jeremiah 48:4

                On the very day I read this verse in my devotions, TV news reported and showed video of a five-year-old Syrian girl being rescued from the rubble of an airstrike in a city in Syria. She is just one of those rescued amidst the destruction of the Syrian Civil War. The children, whether anyone can hear them or not, set up a cry in the tragedy of war. “Abba, daddy, papa, I’m over here. I’m buried in the stones. I can’t get out. Come and get me. Save me. Hold me. Keep me safe.” There’s weeping and wailing, and crying and praying. On another report on the news that day you could actually hear wailing in the background of a cell phone video, it may have been disconsolate children.

                This news story in a way hearkens back to the judgment of Moab. The Chaldean military of Nebuchadnezzar swooped in crushing the country, breaking it down, destroying the bridges and killing people, making a desolation. They did this without the missile firepower of modern warfare being used in Syria today. It was hand-to-hand, person-to-person, intentional arson, face-to-face stabbing, spearing, trampling, and through it all the wailing cry of children whose parents were dead or enslaved, children who had been burned in the fire, and buried alive in the rubble.        

                Wherever there is war with its merciless destruction, raping, pillaging, enslavement, the children set up a cry. But the killers kill without sympathy, the blood of the embattled and executed stains the earth, the bodies litter the ground, and the children weep, and wail, and cry for themselves, their land, and the world. Moab is destroyed. Wherever the hellishness of war explodes the children cry.