Kindred Moment Column – Tri-County Women News Ever find yourself in a situation where you are too embarrassed to do what is right? Or maybe you are just too weak to follow through? Daniel was a young man who chose both the right way and the difficult way. After being kidnapped and taken to Babylonia by wicked ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was determined to stand for the God he believed in. Daniel chose not to eat the food the king had given him and the other Jewish youths in training for the king’s service. Literally in Daniel 1 vs 8 this meant…Daniel ‘made up his mind that he would not defile himself.’ Or Daniel ‘set it upon his heart,’ Lev 11:47 says, “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean.” Daniel refused the food from the king’s table.. These foods and drinks were supposed to make them more healthy, more productive and more intelligent and so to refuse them was insulting the king and the culture of the day. God provided an advocate for Daniel, the king’s official, who oversaw what Daniel ate and drank. Although the official was alarmed at Daniel’s decision, knowing his own life was at stake. His concern was because to refuse an offering of the finest foods and best wines from king’s table or the best society has to offer, would be to refuse the king, himself. But Daniel had already decided what he would do before his captivity. When he told the king’s official he had made up his mind about what he would do or not do. He decided he would love the things God loved, even in a foreign land where it wasn’t easy to set himself apart from the culture. Daniel had chosen not to partake in the delights of the culture of his captivity. He didn’t want to be defiled or distracted by the snares of the Babylonians. In the same way, there are many distractions, snares, things that we must set ourselves apart from in our American society. For some, it’s refraining from drinking alcohol, or going to movies, or using the internet. For many, it’s controlling intake of sweets, breads or even potato chips. For others, it’s controlling time spent on hobbies, leisure time or even collecting things or clothes, otherwise called materialism. Daniel did not remove himself from the society, but he merely refused some of the benefits of the society for a time. He chose to set himself apart from the pleasures of the world and the culture he was in. His heartfelt cry was, Psalm 119:114 “Thou are my hiding place and my shield…I will wait for Thy word. Depart from me evil doers, that I may observe the commandments of God.” Is there something in your life God might be calling you to “make up your mind” about? Are you settling for the delicacies of the king’s table? Why settle for second best, when you could be enjoying the blessing of being set apart and distinguished by an extra-ordinary spirit? ‘Set it upon your heart’ to be ‘set apart’ from the distractions of our culture. With God’s help you can have the victory over the snares of our society. Ask God to penetrate you with His extra-ordinary Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit’s power, you will have an extra-ordinary spirit, like Daniel.
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