Today's Scripture Reading (March 12, 2024): James 4 & 5
I love the story of Daniel.
With the tales of his adventures in the lion's den, a story of his friends,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and their worship service in the fiery furnace,
and many other strange and wonderful tales, Daniel is a book filled with tremendous
stories.
But the Book of Daniel
starts with these four young men being chosen to be trained to serve in the King's
palace. They were being trained to take positions of authority in the King's
political structure. And so, because of that, they were given food that originated
at the King's table. That meant that it was the best food and wine given to the
chosen with the intent that they would be kept healthy. The problem was that
the food was often unclean because it either did not conform to the Jewish food
laws or because it had been offered as a sacrifice to the false gods worshipped
in Babylon. And eating the food became a matter of conscience for these young
Jewish men.
So, Daniel suggested a solution
to the one who was responsible for feeding them. Allow us to eat just
vegetables and drink water; that way, we avoid the problem of eating unclean
meat or meat that has been sacrificed to other gods. The problem was that the
food they were supposed to eat had been proven to be healthy stuff, so the one
in charge was hesitant to make the change. Daniel's response? Try it. No one
needs to know that we are eating just vegetables and drinking water. Just let
us try and examine us in ten days and see if we aren't just as strong and
healthy as those who eat at the King's table. Finally, the one responsible for
the young men agreed to a ten-day trial. And ten days later, the boys from
Jerusalem were just as healthy as the others.
From that story, we have
the Daniel Diet, the Daniel Fast, and probably many other books and programs
that encourage us to eat like Daniel did, but they all miss the point. I am not
saying that vegetables and water are unhealthy; we know they are good. But the
story of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and the food isn't about a
diet. Nothing is prescriptive in the story; the Bible doesn't say we should eat
these things. The story is about going against conventional wisdom. Of
everything they knew, the best way to grow a healthy man was with the King's
food. These young men were essential to the nation, so they used all their
wisdom to ensure they were healthy. They were committed to giving the young men
the best that they had: food literally fit for a king.
But they weren't in control;
God was. This wasn't about eating the right food; this story is about
understanding who is in control. What Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
asked didn't make sense, except that God was in control. The most significant
difference between us and God is control.
There is a story that when
Martin Luther King received his Ph.D., he was offered a teaching position in
the Northeast. He could have spent the rest of his life in relative safety,
teaching and pontificating on the evils of racism and challenging the society
to change. King didn't have to return to the Southeast and the frontline of the
battle. What made sense was that he would stay in the North, where the
white-black question had been essentially settled for several years.
However, I think Martin
Luther King would say that he wasn't in control; God was. And he would go
wherever his Savior directed him. We may be dust, inconsequential, and blown
this way and that. But God is the wind, and Martin Luther King knew we are
directed by him.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Acts 13
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