In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. (Daniel 1:1-5 ESV)
As God's people, we are often faced with opportunities to stand for what we believe. People are watching us and listening to us, even if passively, and evaluating the authenticity of our convictions. Sometimes there are "built in" events in our lives where we stand before a watching world. That is where Daniel and his friends found themselves. They were going to be evaluated after three years; they would stand before a pagan king. They wasted no time preparing to stand. When their menu was changed to one that violate their convictions, they took a stand. When they were ordered to worship an idol, they refused. When they were told to not pray to God, they continued to do so. They took their stand day by day, event by event, so when the big times came, to stand before the King, they were ready. May we live our lives being ready by standing on our convictions every day.
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