People of Purpose

As Hebrew captives in Babylon, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in a culture that was largely hostile to their beliefs. And we live in a similar culture today.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we’re constantly under pressure to compromise, cave in, shut up, and do what everyone else tells us we ought to be doing. We need to be people of integrity and principle because our culture will challenge our principles in every way.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were supposed to eat at the king’s table. But they declined. It almost seems minor. Why would they not do it? Probably because some of those foods were offered to false gods. In the minds of these four young Hebrew men, it would have been a compromise of God’s commandments.

Daniel 1:8 tells us, “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods” (NLT).

He basically said to the chief of staff, “I’ll make you a deal. Let my friends and me just eat vegetables and water. Everyone else can eat all this other stuff, and we’ll see who fares better after a period of time.” And as time passed, sure enough, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel did well. They were more robust than those who had been eating at the king’s table.

These four made a stand in a seemingly small area. When they were tested later in bigger ones, their character, which had been formed well earlier in life, withstood the tests.

A question people often ask me as a pastor is whether it’s okay for a Christian to do this or that. I am always a little concerned with questions like this. We might loosely paraphrase them this way: How much can I get away with and still technically be a Christian? Is it all right to listen to this? Is it all right to go do that? Is it okay to do this with my friends?

Those are not always easy questions to answer. But when it comes to those so-called gray areas of life, here are four questions we should ask ourselves: Does this build me up spiritually? Does this bring me under its power? Do I have an uneasy conscience about this? Could this cause someone else to stumble?

The apostle Paul wrote, “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT).

For Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel, refusing to eat at the table of the king meant putting themselves in jeopardy. Yet the Bible tells us, “Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods” (Daniel 1:8 NLT).

That is what we need today. More people of purpose.

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