When I went to Seminary, there were a lot of financial pressures that the students went through. And I want to give a testimony that one student's wife shared. Randy went to seminary full time. His wife, Karen worked outside the home full-time in order to keep Randy in school and food on the table. Karen worked as a quality control inspector for a major pharmaceutical company.
One day, at Karen's work, a large order of syringes became contaminated and therefore failed her inspection. When Karen reported the problem to her boss, he quickly computed the costs of reproducing the order and then he made a "cost effective" decision. He ordered her to go ahead and sign the inspection clearance despite the contamination.
Because of certain federal regulations, only Karen could sign the clearance forms. If she did not sign the forms, the syringes could not be sold.
Even though her boss threatened her, Karen would not budge. The impasse between Karen and her boss led to a visit from the company president. He also computed the costs and then told her that the forms must be signed! Karen would have the weekend to think over her decision. It was made very clear that her job was now in jeopardy. In fact, much more than Karen's job was in jeopardy.
You see, her job was this couple's only means of support. Randy's education and their family's future were now in danger. All their hopes, dreams and career plans of many years could now be shattered as a result of a choice to be made in only 2 days.
For this young couple, all the theological jargon about living out the Christian life came down to this one very concrete decision: Could they afford to remain undefiled from the contamination of such a decision?
This couple's predicament is very similar to what God's people have faced in all the ages.
If you are serious about living a life that pleases God, you can count on facing multiple pressures to compromise your stand. Some of you will be pressured by an employer, others will be pressured by friends or relatives. Then there is the internal pressure that comes from our own natural desires. Such pressures confront anyone who seeks to live uncompromisingly for the Lord in any generation.
Daniel was faced with just such a situation.
A Little Decision (v. 8a)
And the first thing I want to point out is that this was a little thing. Verse 8 says, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank..."People have puzzled over this passage because Nehemiah, Ezra, Asther and Mordecai enjoyed the same food and wine with God's blessing. There have been many theories on why exactly Daniel would have become defiled. Was the food unclean according to ceremonial standards? That mightpossibly fit with the delicacies, but not the wine. Was it offered to idols? Perhaps. But so were the vegetables according to many. Was it, as some have suggested, a symbolic act by which people put themselves in covenant with the king and his gods? That's a guess. Was he under a Nazarene vow? We are not told. There are several possible answers. But all that God wants us to know is that in some sense, Daniel felt that he would have been defiled by food.
Food and drink was not such a big deal. Back in Israel he was allowed to drink wine and eat meat, and delicacies. God does not kill you when it comes to food. He did not make your taste buds enjoy burgers to torture you. Christ enjoyed food and wine. Daniel later does so himself. But there are times when God calls us to It would have been very easy for Daniel to salve his uneasy conscience and to take the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Many other godly Jews had done exactly that. You can think of Queen Esther and Mordecai. According to the book of Esther both of them ate the dainties, the meat and the wine from the king's table without suffering conscience pangs. And both of them are listed as godly people in Scripture. So it was obviously an issue that they had not been convicted of. But one principle of life that we need to lay hold of is that we are not to live by other people's consciences. If God has convicted you of something from Scripture that He has not yet convicted your brother of, you can't ignore God's conviction just because your brother is oblivious to it. It is before God that you stand, and to Him that you must answer. And no detail is too small if God wants you to stop it. Daniel resolved, or made up his mind that he was going to do what God wanted no matter what the price might be. And in many ways, Daniel's usefulness in the kingdom of God depended on that single, seemingly mundane decision about what kind of food he would eat. It is in the little areas of life that major bridgeheads are made into enemy territory. God brings these into every believer's life. With Esther and Mordecai, it was in other seemingly little areas. But you can guarantee that God will test each of us in the little areas of life.
Let me make three applications of this first point.
1. The best time to take a stand as soon as it comes up. Daniel didn't wait very long to decide what he was going to do. He made up his mind early. The best time for you to make up your mind is the first moment you walk onto a new job and see those alluring opportunities. As a young person, it's that first time someone tries to get you to go past those sexual limits God has set for your protection. Or it is the first night you unpack your suitcase at college. Or the first hour you arrive at your hotel on a business trip and either turn on the T.V. or call the manager to turn off your cable. Don't wait until you are in a position of social strength before you take a stand for righteousness. By the time you have social strength you will probably have lost all moral strength, all moral courage, and ability to take such stands. It is in the beginning small areas that you are tested and either strengthened or weakened.
Second, we must always be on guard over the little things of life. Many times we are on guard for the big things and fall in the little ones. Scripture tells us that it is the little foxes who spoil the vines. Termites destroy more homes than earthquakes and tornadoes combined. More fires are caused by cigarrettes than by volcanoes. More heartaches are caused by little words and deeds than by open enmity and hate. One undiplomatic word can start a war. But it is little things that have made for great men and women as well.
So the first application is that the best time to take a stand is early. Second, be on guard over the little things.
The third application is almost always, the biggest tests in life are faithfulness in the small things. We tend to play mental games with ourselves and say things like, "If the Communists were to drag me out of my home and threaten to kill me I would not deny my faith. I would stand firm." But while we have big dreams like that, we allow the little things to slide by us. Those little things erode our integrity, our honesty and chasitity and faithfulness to the point where we would not have the will to stand if we were to face the lions. Like Daniel, the real tests for you will come in theoretical mind games of what you might do, but in the context of life's harsh realities. Those small things are a training ground for future conflicts with the world, the flesh and the devil. The future conflicts will be much easier if we are faithful in the small tests of life. Some of you don't want to be bothered by the little things but you've got to do it.
Yet A Costly Decision (vv. 8,10)
The cost to his appetite
But let's go on and show that this decision also had the potential of being a very costly decision. And that is not a contradiction of the first point. I've phrased these points in the ways that we tend to rationalize our sins. When faced with an unpleasant choice we often rationalize that the sin is such a small thing. It's really no big deal. God wouldn't be concerned about that. But when we look at the repurcussions of obeying God we think that it is a big deal. I can't afford to lose my job. I can't afford to have my spouse think badly of me. I can't do it because it is so costly. Our mind is amazing at the way it can play psychological tricks on us. We want to make it out to no big deal at all to convince ourselseves that it is not sin, but if we are not successful at that, we convince ourselves that it is a far bigger problem than we can handle, and God would never make me take a decision like that.
In this passage we can see the potential cost involved. Look at verse 10: "And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king." If the chief of the eunuchs feared the king over the food issue, how much more so should Daniel? The eunuch said that he could lose his head, but how much more so could Daniel if it became known that he had willfully resisted the king? With you it may not be losing your head. It may be losing your job or your self-respect or your pride or something else that you value. Or it may simply be the cravings of your flesh. Daniel had appetites just like we do. I'm sure his mouth watered over this food. That's why the food is called "delicacies" in verse 8. There was a cost to saying "No" to food when God called him to do that.
But there are costs to all decisions of integrity. God will make sure your decision is costly if you disobey Him and Satan will make sure your decision is costly if you obey the Lord. Don't try to get around the cost. It will be there. Christ said that no disciple can avoid the cross. Christ said, "He who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me". (Matt. 10:38). I have talked with some of you who are unwilling to make right decisions because there is a cost involved. But let me assure you that you are not avoiding cost; you are simply choosing a deferred cost which will end up being far worse. Cost is unavoidable in decisions of integrity. And I urge you to follow the Lord. At least God helps you bear the cross. His yolk is easy and His burden is light. That is not true with the cost you will face if you follow the devil.
The potential cost to his career
A Gracious Decision (vv. 8b-9)
The third point says that Daniel's decision was a gracious decision. Notice the last clause of verse 8: "Therefore he requested" [notice it's not a demand; he requested] "of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." The NIV reads, "he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way." He asked for permission. And Daniel had such a good attitude that verse 9 says that this public official like him. He liked Daniel. Daniel had the favor and good will of the chief of the eunuchs.
Daniel did not send around leaflets encouraging a riot, he didn't begin a protest movement, he didn't start a hate campaign. He didn't try to embarrass this superior because of his own strong convictions. He didn't start a boycott campaign. Instead he responded to his situation with a spirit of humility and respect by requesting permission of the chief official not to eat the kings food.
Now it's true, Daniel had already determined not to eat the food even if the official refused permission. But Daniel doesn't tell him that up front. He takes positive steps wherever possible. And there is much we could learn from Daniel's attitude.
First, be very careful about putting your superiors on the spot because of your faith. Be wise. There are times when God calls a prophet to rebuke a king officially, but generally speaking we should do all in our power to persuade. I was told about a business man who said he was through hiring Christians because of the way they continually put him on the spot with their scruples. Now I don't know the situation, and maybe it was unavoidable, but it is a shame that Christians try confrontation before they try gentle persuasion. 1 Peter 3:15 says that we ought to always be ready to give a defense, that is true, but it says we must do it "with meekness and respect, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed."
One person said, "Daniel learned how to take a strong stand for the Lord in a way that showed the greatness of God, not in a way that left people staring at Daniel himself." And there is a world of difference.
Secondly, if one door is closed, try another door. In verse 10, the chief of the eunuchs basically said "No, I can't afford to do that." So in verses 11-14 Daniel tries another tack with his immediate supervisor whom the chief of the eunuchs placed over him. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and if we can live righteously with a superior's favor or live righteously without his favor, I think we should prefer the former. Paul told us that as much as is possible to live peaceably with all men. May each of us take a strong stand for Christ, but may we look for ways of doing it in meekness and respect.
A Tested Decision (vv. 10-16)
The fourth principle I want to draw from this passage is that your decision will be tested. And Daniel was quite willing to be tested. Let's read verses 11-16: "So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our countenances be examined before you, and the countenances of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants."" There was not only humility and graciousness and submission, but there was a willingness to be tested. This assumes a confidence that doing things God's way will always work out for the best. We must have that confidence.
Verses 14-16 describe that testing: "So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of the ten days their countenance appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies." [Now this is totally a side-note, but I want those of you who are preoccupied with an arbitrary 20th century thin scale to notice that this plumpness was God's blessing. God blessed them by making them better and fatter in flesh. Better and fatter. These two words are not contradictions. I think the modern weight loss obsession is in many ways just as idolatrous as gluttony is. Both are preoccupation with self and with food. That's one of the reasons I like the weigh down clinic that focus is on God rather than self or food. Both gluttony and dieting can be idolatrous. But anyway, on with my main subject. Testing. Verse 16 says,] "Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables."
Don't feel like one decision is the end of the matter. God frequently makes us prolong the decision making process in a period of testing. And that is healthy. It is for our good.
If the world tested us socially, academically, in terms of productivity or in other ways, would we come out ahead? The Puritans told farmers that they must be the best farmers that they could be, the best printers, writers, craftsment, etc. We ought to seek to excell in all that we do. And the testing that these men went through went far beyond their physical appearance. They were later tested academically and in many other ways. Now not all are called to be academics; not all are called to be mothers. But in the calling to which we are called, God will prosper us if we will honor him. And that is the last point I want to touch on: Daniel's decison was a rewarded decision.
A Rewarded Decision (vv. 17-21)
Let's read "verses 17-21".
"Verse 17". I'm sure they studied hard, but ultimately their excelling in academics came from God. This also mentions special giftings that the Lord gave to them. They all stemmed from God's blessing Daniel's integrity.
"Verses 18-19." God knows how to position us in places where we can have the most influence. It may not be in a court. But whether it is in the home or elsewhere, we need to have confidence that God's sovereign control is perfect.
"Verse 20". It was the Lord who gave them this, because it was needed. We don't need to be upset because we don't have such wisdom. God can give us all that we need to excell in our callings. But I want to end with verse 21
"Verse 21". Daniel continued. The rest of the book shows the remarkable ways in which others rose and fell. But Daniel continued. God preserved him until his purposes for Daniel were done. What an incredible way to live a life. I want my life to count for eternity. I want to be used by the Lord. I don't care if it is recognized or not. I don't care if it is visible or great by the world's standards. But I want God's pleasure to rest upon me. If you desire that too, let me remind you that it boils down to decisions of integrity; decisions to follow the Lord. May we be faithful in the callings to which God has called us. Amen.