Fit For Service (Part 9b-Daniel)
This is week fifteen of our study: Fit for Service. In this study we have already seen that Daniel was steadfast and that he walked in wisdom. Today we will continue looking at the life of Daniel to see what made him usable by God.
Thirdly, Daniel walked in total reliance on God.
Daniel 1:9, Now God had brought Daniel into favor and compassion with the master of the officials. (MEV)
Daniel 2:17-18, Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, so that they might ask for compassion from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. (MEV)
Daniel 6:10, Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house. And his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. (MEV)
As we saw last week, Daniel did not want to defile himself by eating the rich foods provided by the King. He had honored God by observing the strict dietary laws prescribed in the Law all his life.
In contrast, today we see many Christians who are willing to compromise their beliefs to “fit in” with society rather than depending on God to give them the strength to stand for righteousness. We have all heard the sayings, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” or “When in Rome...”
Daniel understood the truth that nothing is hidden from God. He also understood that his change of location did not change his position before God. He was a Hebrew no matter where he lived, and he was still responsible for obeying God’s Law.
As Daniel walked in total reliance upon God, we see that God granted him wisdom and favor. Daniel understood that his help and wisdom came from God. In every situation, he turned his heart and prayers to God for help. He never tried to figure out the answers or hash through the “what if’s” on his own.
I want to remind us that God has given us power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). He has given us wisdom (James 1:5) and as his children we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). Sometimes we just need to apply common sense God has given us to our situation or decisions. However, like Daniel, when we are not sure what to do or the decision is weighty, we must place our total reliance on the God who answers!
Fourth, Daniel maintained a posture of repentance.
Daniel 9:3 & 20 I set my face toward the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 20 While I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God. (MEV)
“Repentance is a posture and way of life from which we never advance.”i
Repentance is the vehicle that keeps us on the road of righteousness. Isaiah 30:15a, This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...” (NIV)
Repentance is not just what we do, it is who we are in Christ. The posture of repentance is a posture of humility and dependance on God. Repentance is daily allowing Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus, asking him to reveal anything that is dark within us. It is acknowledging our sin and faulty thinking and allowing Holy Spirit to renew our minds. Repentance is confessing and then turning away from the things that he reveals and making a clean start in the opposite direction.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (MEV)
1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (NIV)
Maintaining a posture of repentance requires that we keep our hearts in the right condition daily before the Lord.
Fifth, Daniel walked in courageous obedience.
Daniel 4:19, Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spoke and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream, or its interpretation, trouble you.”
Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, if only the dream was for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies!
27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
Daniel 5:17, Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, or give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.
22-23 Yet you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine in them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.
25-28 "This is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
“This is the interpretation of the message:
Mene: God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.
Tekel: you have been weighed in the balances and are found wanting.
Peres: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” (MEV)
In each of the passages above, Daniel had to deliver a difficult message. In both situations God used Daniel to speak a rebuke to the reigning King. In the first, Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he would become like a wild animal driven from his throne unless he repented from his wicked ways. In the second, Daniel told King Belshazzar that his kingdom would be overthrown, and he would die because he had lifted himself up against God.
I have read stories of kings having people executed for lesser things. Daniel trusted God and walked in courageous obedience even when doing so made little sense toward self-preservation. Rather than shrinking back from this responsibility, Daniel stepped out and declared the Word of the Lord boldly.
When God speaks to us, we need to boldly step out and obey. While we do not obey for the reward, we know that God always rewards courageous obedience.
Daniel 5:29, Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
We probably will not become third in command of a kingdom, however, here are some promises for those who walk in courageous obedience:
1. Isaiah 1:19, If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. (ESV)
2. Exodus 23:22, “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. (ESV)
3. Jeremiah 7:23, But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ (ESV)
4. 1 John 3:24, Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (ESV)
5. John 15:14, You are my friends if you do what I command you. (ESV)
6. Acts 5:32, And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (ESV)
As we have studied the life of Daniel, we have seen that Daniel was steadfast, he walked in wisdom, he walked in total reliance on God, he maintained a posture of repentance, and he walked in courageous obedience. May we, like Daniel, be fit for our King’s service!!
Works Cited:
i https://www.wisdomhunters.com/a-life-of repentance/#:~:text=And%20for%20this%20reason%2C%20repentance,of%20Christ%20and%20his%20kingdom.
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