So, this is just a short blog to say everything I wanted to say about today’s challenge, but couldn’t fit into 140 characters, because I am a word nerd.
Daniel-the guy that got thrown into the lion‘s den, friend of the 3 guys with impossible to spell names* that got thrown into a furnace-was about 15 when he was first taken to Babylon. Fifteen.
I’ll be sixteen in 8 days, but as I write this, I am still technically 15, so that makes me think a bit.
Daniel 1 talks about how the kings ordered one of his servants to find Israelite boys who were intelligent and good-looking to serve in his palace. Daniel and his 3 friends were apparently intelligent and good-looking, so they were brought to the palace along with the others. They were supposed to learn everything about the Babylonian culture. Speak the language, read Babylonian books, live in the palace, and eat the king’s food. The king wanted his new servants to be Israelites, but he wanted them to ACT like Babylonians.
The thing is, the king ate unclean food that Israelites weren’t supposed to eat, so Daniel asked the king’s servant to give him and his 3 friends clean food. Vegetables and water. (If you care, this doesn’t mean just strictly vegetables. The Hebrew word is zeroa, which means anything that comes from a sown seed, which includes grains and fruit as well. See? Word nerd.)
Think about that for a second. 4 teenage guys, who had been forbidden from eating all this incredible food all their lives, said no to it. No offense to teenage guys, but most of the ones I know will eat anything you put in front of them, no matter what it is. These 4 suddenly found themselves in a culture that went against everything they’d ever been taught, and they somehow found the strength to stand up for their faith. And they weren’t just standing up to the king’s servant. The king himself had ordered that they be fed that food.
The sad thing is, it was just the four of them. There were probably a few hundred other Israelites there, but they didn’t ask for clean food. They adapted to that culture without a second thought. They became like every other servant in the king’s palace, and probably died without ever doing anything important.
Fast forward a few years, to the time when they had learned the Babylonian ways and it was time for the king to look them over before they entered his service. He found them better than any of the others, and 10 times more wise than the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom. Why? Because they had obeyed God. God gave them knowledge to understand everything they were being taught, all because they had refused a little food.
So why in the heck are we so afraid of not fitting in? Why are we afraid of what people will say if we don’t see that movie, or listen to that song? Eventually, even those people who try to get you to go along with the crowd will see that you’re different because you don’t do that stuff. You’ll be a leader, and they’ll have blended in so long that they won’t even know how to stand out anymore.
Daniel ended up being in influential positions under 3 kings. The ones who ate the unclean food? Well…you never hear another word about them.
*I tried. I promise.**
**That is, if trying is equal to almost using the Veggie Tales versions.
