Daniel Ch. 1

So far so good for my agenda this summer. Here are my daily goals:

1. Blog a devotion everyday.
2. Learn Spanish (or improve my Spanish...).
3. Spend a good amount of time working on getting a paper published.
4. Pray for my wonderful students I will be leading next year!
5. Write music.

It is a quite ambitious but I have to stay disciplined! I never would have imagined how hard it is to have all the free time in the world. But for now I have a little less than an hour before I have to take Erin to work so I will give my thoughts on my reading today, Daniel chapter 1:

As I have grown older, my perspective on biblical stories has changed drastically. In the case of Daniel I would say that I have begun to pity him less and less as a refugee to Babylon against his will and begun to see the opportunity that was placed in front of him. He certainly was taken to Babylon on a decree from King Nebuchadnezzar, but think about who Daniel was. The bible says he was a young man "without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning..." and that he himself was from a royal family. Now taking some liberty with my characterization I see a lot of myself in Daniel, perhaps write before I was going off to college. I am not from a royal family but I certainly had a passion to learn new things and a huge heart for adventure. Part of me thinks that Daniel may have been very excited at the opportunity to move to a new place and begin working for such a prestigious kingdom.

So we have Daniel, along with his three friends Shadrach Messhach and Abendago, living in the kings palace. Right away they make a key decision to honor God with their bodies and because of this we are told that God "caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel..." This is a very big point that I think we often take for granted. If we choose to honor God with what we have, His favor and providence is guaranteed! No matter what circumstances we are under the people around us will notice something different about us and we will be "healthier and better nourished" than those who choose to defile themselves with what the world offers.

To pull it all together, I believe we will have great opportunities in this life. Opportunities to travel to other places, meet people who think differently than we do, or work for people who may or may not treat us well and sometimes these opportunities will be out of our control. What we can always control is what we choose to do with the opportunities we are given, to be faithful with what God has given us and to honor Him as best we know how. If we can do this God will give us knowledge, understanding, and great gifts just like He gave to Daniel. And those gifts could possibly save our lives.
Well that is all for today, hope that you all stay blessed and highly favored!

Matthew Just