DANIEL

Daniel's early life demonstrates that there is more to being young than making mistakes.  No characteristic wins the hearts of adults more quickly than wisdom in the words and actions of a young person.  Daniel and his friends had been taken from their homes in Judah and exiled.  Their futures were in doubt, but they all had personal traits that qualified them for jobs as servants inn the king's palace.  They took advantage of the opportunity without letting the opportunity take advantage of them.

Our first hint of Daniel's greatness comes in his quiet refusal to give up his convictions.  He had applied God's will to his own life, and he resisted changing the good habits he had formed.  Both his physical and spiritual diets were an important part of his relationship with God.  He ate carefully and lived prayerfully.  One of the benefits of being in training for royal service was eating food from the king's table.  Daniel tactfully chose a simpler menu and proved it was a healthy choice.  As with Daniel, mealtimes are obvious and regular test s of our efforts to control our appetites.

While Daniel limited his food intake, he indulged in prayer.  He was able to communicate with God because he made it a habit.  He put into practice his convictions even when that meant being thrown into a den of hungry lions.  His life proved he made the right choice.

Daniel was:

• Although young when deported, remained true to his faith
• Served as an adviser to two Bablyonian kings and two Medo-Persian kings
• Was a man of prayer and a statesman with the gift of prophecy
• Survived the lions den
• Where: Judah and the courts of both Babylon and Persi
• Occupation:  A captive fro Israel who became an adviseer of kings
• Contemporaries:  Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, Mebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, Cyrus

Daniel's story is told in the book of Daniel.  He is also mentioned in Matthew 24:15