"He continued to pray just as he had always done."
Daniel 6:10
Begin
Silence, Stillness, and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Silence, Stillness, and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading: Daniel 1:3-5, 8
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service
some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—young men without any
physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed,
quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the
language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food
and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they
were to enter the king’s service.
But
Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and
he asked
the
chief official for permission not to defile himself this
way.
Devotional
King
Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian armies conquered Jerusalem and carried off most of the city’s inhabitants as slaves. One of those taken was a young teenager named
Daniel. Babylon had one simple goal: to eliminate Daniel’s distinctiveness as a follower of
God and absorb him into the values of their culture––and their gods.
How
did Daniel resist the enormous power of Babylon? He was not a cloistered monk living behind walls. He had heavy job responsibilities and
many people giving him
orders. He had a minimal support system and, I imagine, a very long
to-do list each day.
Daniel
also had a plan, a “Rule of Life.” He did not leave the development
of his interior life to chance. He knew what he was up against. While we
know little of the specifics, it
is clear that he oriented his entire life around loving God. He
renounced certain activities,
such as eating the king’s food (Dan. 1), and engaged in others, such
as the Daily Office (Dan. 6).
Daniel somehow managed to feed himself spiritually, and he blossomed
into an extraordinary man of
God––despite his hostile environment.77
Questions
to Consider
What
is your plan in the midst of your busy day, for not leaving the
nurturing of your interior life with God to chance?
Prayer
Lord,
I just need to be with you—for a long time. I can see that there are
a lot of things in me that need to change. Show me one small step I can take today to begin to build a life
around you. Lord, help me to develop an effective plan in my life for paying attention to you
whether I am working, resting, studying, or praying. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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