Day 10 - Wake up and recover your life!
Scripture focus: Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it's like from his own experience. But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the peoples'. No one elects himself to this honored position. He's called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, "You're my Son; today I celebrate you!" In another place God declares, "You're a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek." While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. Hebrews 5:1-10 (The Message)
When Daniel was taken off to captivity in Babylon, how did he decide what honoring God would look like in this strange new world? For instance, Daniel knew not to eat the food of the court or drink their wine. He managed to skirt that expectation, and in so doing, he honored God.
But when they changed his name he didn't protest. He accepted the new moniker. He adapted. Names are very sacred. They define a person. But Daniel flexed.
When the Babylonians put him through a rigorous course of study on all things Babylonian, he and his friends became smarter and wiser about the ways of Babylon than the Babylonians themselves!
But when an edict was passed that said no one was allowed to pray, Daniel continued to pray and didn't even close his windows or hide his faithful commitment to God. On this issue, Daniel was unwilling to adopt the ways of others.
Maturity comes as we trustingly obey. And when we fail, our failures are handled gently. Success or failure, confusion or clarity – whatever condition we find ourselves in – God is for us, with us, working in and through us. I don't know how Daniel got it right so often, but I do know he had a lot of help. He suffered and struggled, pondered and prayed. It sounds so clear cut as we read about Daniel's life, all so neatly summed up in the book of Daniel. But read carefully. Much of the time Daniel was also in distress. Maturity may require trusting but it also produces suffering. Suffering isn't always a sign that we've messed up, sometimes it's a sign we're on our way to big dream believing.
Recommended reading: Numbers 28-30
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