Have you ever read a familiar story for the umpteenth time and all of a sudden you notice something new? It’s not really new to the story, but it’s new to you. This happens to me several times when reading through Scripture. A story I think I know forwards and backwards is before me, yet when I go to read it something fresh jumps off the page.
The story of Daniel isn’t a new story to me. It’s one of my favorite books in the Bible, and a character whose life I am fascinated by and have loved studying and teaching. Each and every time I read the book I learn something new.
The opening of the book of Daniel is quite tragic. Far from the Veggie Tales story I used to watch in Sunday School. I remember the first time I processed how awful the circumstances of Daniel’s life must have been. A captive of war, forced to trek across the desert terrain from Jerusalem to Babylon, chained and captive as a spoil of war into the court of a brutal foreign king. Hundreds of miles from all he had ever known, this teenage boy grows into an old man in the kingdoms that fought for world dominance, and all the while Daniel faithfully serves God throughout his entire life.
Perhaps Daniel’s life fascinates me so much because his faith and faithfulness is a far cry from the “cancel culture, use it up till it no longer serves me, get ahead at any expense” culture of the world we are surrounded by today. Daniel’s story reminds me that faithfulness to God isn’t contingent on feelings or circumstances.
In Daniel 1:8 there is word circled, highlighted and marked in my Bible––resolved. The passage reads:
“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.”
Daniel was so far from home, there was no one going to tell the priest if Daniel defiled himself with food after all, the temple was pilfered, the people had scattered and many of his countrymen were dead or captive. Yet to Daniel none of that mattered. What mattered more than his hunger, hurt, or heartache was remaining faithful to God. Not because others would see it, but because God would.
I remember the world “resolved” jumping off the page at me. The realization that Daniel didn’t stumble into faithfulness to God, he resolved to be faithful.
In the face of a choice, Daniel resolved himself. In Hebrew the word is śûm and literally translates as “made up.” Daniel’s mind was made up on what he was going to do and not do, and he didn’t allow the challenging circumstances in front of him to deter him. When opposition arose (like a tray full of food), Daniel looked for creative solutions (like a conversation with the chief official).
I’ve been thinking about how our lives as believers would be if we lived more resolved in our lives. If we made up our minds to do the things God calls us to and not allow the distractions and temptations of the enemy to get in our way. What would happen in our lives if we lived resolved, even if just for a week?
If we resolved ourselves to spend 10 minutes in Scripture each day?
If we resolved ourselves to pray for our people once a day?
If we resolved ourselves to control our appetites and not allow food to be our god?
If we resolved ourselves to walk each day in stewardship of our bodies?
If we resolved ourselves to get up with the alarm and not miss going to church?
If we resolved ourselves to obey the last thing the Lord told us to do, no matter the inconvenience or challenges?
Throughout the book of Daniel I am constantly amazed at the favor of God upon his life, and how God worked through Daniel’s story. But I really shouldn’t be, Daniel was the kind of person God could use, because Daniel was only concerned with pleasing God. Which has me thinking about my life lately and if I’m more concerned with pleasing others around me, or if I’m living resolved to please God.
How about you? What is God calling you to be resolved in today? Let’s test it. Let’s be people resolved to obey God no matter what is in front of us, and let’s see what God does.
Father, You are faithful even when I am faithless. Help me model Your faithfulness this week and lived resolved to walk in Your ways. In the name of Jesus and by the power of the Spirit I pray, amen.
In His Grace,
Want to Study the Book of Daniel?
If you’re interested in studying the life of Daniel through this fascinating book, I’ve created a 20 day Study Series where you will get email each day for 20 days with different levels of study accessible to you.
If you just want to read the Bible passage you can just do that. Each day’s reading is included in the email.
If you want to dig into the text a little, there are questions, commentary, and a prayer prompt for each day.
And if you want to go really deep, there is a section in the email at the bottom where you can dive into historical information and cultural connections by reading articles pertaining to the hot topics in the book. The choice is yours. The challenge level you want is yours to tackle, and everything is made accessible to you in daily emails.