Choices

Daniel 1:3-6 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility, 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
 
WHAT do you do with the gifts the Lord has given to you? The king, Nebuchadnezzar, ordered only the best and the brightest young men brought from Judah to serve in his palace. These chosen men would receive far better treatment than the other Jews in exile. The Lord had granted to these men attractive physical appearance and good minds to learn. As a result, the king granted them the opportunity for a privileged life in Babylon.
     The men’s minds would be the focus on their transformation. To be trained in the ways of Babylon’s king would include some very good education. The Babylonians were great architects, mathematicians, astronomers and farmers. They had much knowledge to teach their new “citizens”.
     But what else would these men learn? Surely, the king worshiped idols. Would they be taught about these lifeless gods? Would their minds be filled to pursue personal power instead of the Lord’s humility? Would their eyes become focused on worldly wealth, forgetting God’s rich spiritual blessings? Would Satan’s deadly lies replace the Lord’s living commands? Might they consume food against the Lord’s dietary laws? Would they neglect the Sabbath? Most certainly life in a pagan land would be a life separate from the Kingdom of God.
     This choice confronts you each day, doesn’t it? The culture confronts your mind to conform. What do you learn? Whom do you follow? What do you believe? How and whom do you worship? Are you filling your minds with God or with worthless gods – self, sports, hobbies, work? Do you consume comfort, discarding Jesus’ call to serve?
     The mind is precious to protect. Disobedience and obedience begins with what we learn. We will see that God had gifted four particular men with minds set on God against Babylon’s temptations. Their lives would glorify God’s name, so even the pagans would know Yahweh – the LORD God Almighty. We will see how these men decided to remain faithful to God, to be an example to the Israelites then in exile and even for our faith today.
     Are you a Christian? God has given you a faith to believe. How will you use your mind to glorify God’s name? What choices are you making? What will friends and family remember of your choices when they tell your story?