You may remember their story: When they
were just teenagers they were taken as Jewish
captives from Judah to Babylon. Conscripted
into the service of Babylon's king, they were
brought to his palace and thrust into the very
heart of a brutal heathen culture. Immediately,
they began to be confronted with challenges to
their faith.
The fi rst one arose when, as Daniel 1
records, "The king appointed them a daily
provision of the king's meat, and of the wine
which he drank" (verse 5). Such foods were
forbidden by the Old Covenant laws of God.
Yet Daniel and his friends were told they had
to eat them for three years to qualify to stand
before the king.
To refuse would jeopardize their entire
future.
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defi le himself with the portion of
the king's meat, nor with the wine which he
drank" (verse 8). Instead, he asked the man
in charge of the king's servants for healthier
foods that would line up with God's WORD.
"My job is to fatten you up!" the man argued.
"If I don't, I'm going to look bad to the king. It
might cost me my head!"
Right here is where Daniel put his fi rst stake
of no-compromise in the ground. Holding fast
to his covenant with God, he said, "Please test
your servants for ten days, and let them give us
vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let
our appearance be examined before you, and
the appearance of the young men who eat the
portion of the king's delicacies; and as you
see fi t, so deal with your servants" (verses
12-13, New King James Version).
The man in charge agreed, and
by the end of the 10 days, Daniel
and his friends had proved that
believing and obeying God doesn't
cost—it pays! Even after eating
only vegetables and drinking water,
"their features appeared better
and fatter in fl esh than all the young
men who ate the portion of the king's
delicacies" (verse 15, NKJV).
Delivered From Sugar
It's no accident that the fi rst pressure
Daniel and his friends confronted had to do
with food! Food has been a BLESSING and a
problem ever since the Garden of Eden. The
fi rst sin mankind fell prey to involved eating
a forbidden food…and God's people have been
having trouble with food ever since.
"But Brother Copeland, as New Testament
believers, we're not bound by Old Covenant
dietary laws like Daniel and his friends were."
I know. But even so, God put those laws
in the Bible for a reason. There's a lot of
sound, scientifi c wisdom in them. They were
designed by God to enable His people to live
6 : B V O V
"Your
victory over
compromise makes
you stronger. It
builds your character
and makes you harder
for the devil to
deal with."
