“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank…” (Dan. 1:8)
While in captivity, Daniel was faced with a decision; eat and drink the king’s food which had been likely offered to idols, or take a stand. He chose to take a stand. There will be times in life where, for the sake of your testimony as a Christian, you must take a stand. The key is knowing when and how to stand.
FIRST—He Knew WHEN to Take a Stand.
There were some things the Babylonians tried to do to Daniel that he allowed and certain things he didn’t allow. In other there words, he didn’t take a stand on everything. Some Christians seem to take a stand on EVERYTHING! They fuss about everything little thing. Hey, not every hill is worth dying on!
Daniel didn’t take a stand on everything.
- They deported him to a foreign nation….he didn’t like it, but he let it go.
- They changed his name to one that would have been very offensive to him…..he didn’t like it, but he let it go.
- They made him attend their schools….he didn’t like it, but he let it go.
But then they offered him their food—and he took a stand. Why? What was unique about the food that was not true of the other aspects of this trial? The food was a BIBLICAL ISSUE. Eating this food would have been a violation of Old Testament dietary laws, AND had probably been offered to their pagan gods.
So what determined when Daniel took a stand and when he didn’t was whether or not he was in danger of violating the Word of God. It was only when there was a clear violation of the Word of God that Daniel stood up for what he believed.
Sometimes, I’m afraid, we as Christians bring battles upon ourselves that God never intended for us to fight. There are many things in life that are not clear violations of Scripture that we can simply “let go.” But on the other hand, ask God to give you courage to take a stand when it is necessary.
Tomorrow, we will look at the second thing Daniel did regarding taking a stand for the Lord.