Daniel's Desirable Qualities - Pt. 1

King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and eventually commanded his chief of staff to bring him men with these characteristics:

Men of Great Strength

Healthy

Good Looking

Young

Extremely Smart in Every Area of Education

Gifted with Knowledge and Good Judgment

Royal Palace Worthy

Out of all of the men in Jerusalem, four men stood out: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That means these are the strongest, most handsome, intelligent, classy, young men in the whole land! I would say these are the cream of the crop.

These men were being watched closely by very powerful men in royal authority. What I love about Daniel is that he was undaunted by the threat of the powerful men around him. He was still determined to honor his God no matter who he was around:

Daniel 1:8

But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.

Daniel didn’t cave into to the pressures of those who didn’t serve his God. Most of us will never face the threats that Daniel was smack dab in the middle of. How often, though, do we compromise our beliefs to accommodate those around us? Daniel was determined to not defile himself no matter who was around.

It all worked out great for Daniel because he became the healthiest and strongest out of all the men and proved that he needn’t defile himself to measure up with the other guys.

Daniel had every reason that most of us would need to become arrogant and prideful:

Daniel 1:17;19-20

God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.

The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah(Shadrach), Mishael(Meshach), and Azariah(Abednego). So they entered the royal service.

Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

The King had a dream and demanded that his magicians and enchanters not only tell him the meaning of his dream, but also tell him what he had dreamed in the first place. None of the magicians could do it, so the King ordered that they all be killed. Daniel heard of this and requested more time as he prayed to God. God gave him the dream and the meaning, and saved them all. The first thing Daniel did when the dream was revealed to him was praise God. Daniel didn’t get a puffed up chest because he was so awesome at this dream stuff, he humbly thanked and praised God for what God gave to him:

Daniel 2:20,23

He said,

“Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power.

I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded.”

#Daniel #determination #honor