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Daniel read-through, chapters 1-3
Today is the first half of my full read through on the book of Daniel. It is long enough and I’m breaking it up into two sections. Today I listened while following along in my Bible to chapters 1 through 4. I actually do this a lot, I will listen and follow along because it engages me in a different way than simply reading.
Three things really stood out to me this morning.
The first is in chapter 1, and it’s how strongly Daniel follows his lead from God to resist eating food that he was being given. I don’t think the point of the passage is to inform us about food to eat. I think what’s important is that Daniel had a personal relationship with God and clearly felt led to conduct his life in a certain way. Daniel followed that personalized directive from God. This reminds me that our spiritual journey is personal, and it looks different for each of us. For me, the most obvious example of that is the global mission field. I don’t believe we ALL are called to go travel the world on mission. For some of us, our mission field is here. For some, our mission field may be one other person. Each of us has a unique journey, and it is incumbent upon us to seek out God’s unique plan for our own life, and then to pursue it.
The second thing that really jumped out at me was Daniels humility in chapter 2, in verses 27 and 28 when he clearly credits God as it relates to his ability to see and interpret visions for the king. How many times I’ve been credited with success and not given the glory to God? How many times has God been largely responsible for that success? The answer to both of those questions is approaching 100% unfortunately. Shame on me.
And third, King Nebuchadnezzar really is a lot more like me than any other character in this reading this morning. He is changed by an interaction with God, he has a momentary perspective, and then he snapped back into his sinful self. That’s my journey; I feel like the best I can manage sometimes is two steps forward and one step back.
Today, I will be praying that God would instill a little more of Daniel in me, and a little less of Nebuchadnezzar.
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By Steve AndersonToday is the first half of my full read through on the book of Daniel. It is long enough and I’m breaking it up into two sections. Today I listened while following along in my Bible to chapters 1 through 4. I actually do this a lot, I will listen and follow along because it engages me in a different way than simply reading.
Three things really stood out to me this morning.
The first is in chapter 1, and it’s how strongly Daniel follows his lead from God to resist eating food that he was being given. I don’t think the point of the passage is to inform us about food to eat. I think what’s important is that Daniel had a personal relationship with God and clearly felt led to conduct his life in a certain way. Daniel followed that personalized directive from God. This reminds me that our spiritual journey is personal, and it looks different for each of us. For me, the most obvious example of that is the global mission field. I don’t believe we ALL are called to go travel the world on mission. For some of us, our mission field is here. For some, our mission field may be one other person. Each of us has a unique journey, and it is incumbent upon us to seek out God’s unique plan for our own life, and then to pursue it.
The second thing that really jumped out at me was Daniels humility in chapter 2, in verses 27 and 28 when he clearly credits God as it relates to his ability to see and interpret visions for the king. How many times I’ve been credited with success and not given the glory to God? How many times has God been largely responsible for that success? The answer to both of those questions is approaching 100% unfortunately. Shame on me.
And third, King Nebuchadnezzar really is a lot more like me than any other character in this reading this morning. He is changed by an interaction with God, he has a momentary perspective, and then he snapped back into his sinful self. That’s my journey; I feel like the best I can manage sometimes is two steps forward and one step back.
Today, I will be praying that God would instill a little more of Daniel in me, and a little less of Nebuchadnezzar.