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Darius divided his kingdom into 120 states and placed a governor in charge of each one. In order to make sure that his government was run properly, Darius put three other officials in charge of the governors. One of these officials was Daniel. And he did his work so much better than the other governors and officials that the king decided to let him govern the whole kingdom.
The other men tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel did his work for the king. But they could not accuse him of anything wrong, because he was honest and faithful and did everything he was supposed to do. Finally, they said to one another, “We will never be able to bring any charge against Daniel, unless it has to do with his religion.”
They all went to the king and said:
“Your Majesty, we hope you live forever! All of your officials, leaders, advisors, and governors agree that you should make a law forbidding anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next 30 days. Everyone who disobeys this law must be thrown into a pit of lions. 8Order this to be written and then sign it, so it cannot be changed, just as no written law of the Medes and Persians can be changed.”
So King Darius made the law and had it written down.
Daniel heard about the law, but when he returned home, he went upstairs and prayed in front of the window that faced Jerusalem. In the same way that he had always done, he knelt down in prayer three times a day, giving thanks to God.
The men who had spoken to the king watched Daniel and saw him praying to his God for help.
Daniel 6:1-11
If someone watched you all day today would they find enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? Why didn't Daniel simply pray with his window closed so that no one could see him? That would have been such a simple accommodation to the new law. He could keep on praying while no one knew he was breaking the law in private.
In the United States there is a well known myth that the founders of our nation wanted us to separate our government from our faith. It is not a law but almost everyone is afraid even to pray in a public place for fear of the government.
If Daniel lived today in the U.S. where do you think he would be praying? He defied the threat of a pit of lions and ultimately suffered that fate, although God rescued him. We are afraid to defy a possible law suit by an annoying anti God group. When we get to Heaven I'm afraid United States Christians may be required to attend a seminar on resisting government pressure led by Daniel himself . How embarrassing would that be?
"Lord, I pray for the courage to stand up or rather kneel down like Daniel did and leave the consequences up to You. May those who want to convict me of belonging to You find plenty of evidence today! Amen."
(This blog originally appeared October 12, 2012)
The other men tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel did his work for the king. But they could not accuse him of anything wrong, because he was honest and faithful and did everything he was supposed to do. Finally, they said to one another, “We will never be able to bring any charge against Daniel, unless it has to do with his religion.”
They all went to the king and said:
“Your Majesty, we hope you live forever! All of your officials, leaders, advisors, and governors agree that you should make a law forbidding anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next 30 days. Everyone who disobeys this law must be thrown into a pit of lions. 8Order this to be written and then sign it, so it cannot be changed, just as no written law of the Medes and Persians can be changed.”
So King Darius made the law and had it written down.
Daniel heard about the law, but when he returned home, he went upstairs and prayed in front of the window that faced Jerusalem. In the same way that he had always done, he knelt down in prayer three times a day, giving thanks to God.
The men who had spoken to the king watched Daniel and saw him praying to his God for help.
Daniel 6:1-11
If someone watched you all day today would they find enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? Why didn't Daniel simply pray with his window closed so that no one could see him? That would have been such a simple accommodation to the new law. He could keep on praying while no one knew he was breaking the law in private.
In the United States there is a well known myth that the founders of our nation wanted us to separate our government from our faith. It is not a law but almost everyone is afraid even to pray in a public place for fear of the government.
If Daniel lived today in the U.S. where do you think he would be praying? He defied the threat of a pit of lions and ultimately suffered that fate, although God rescued him. We are afraid to defy a possible law suit by an annoying anti God group. When we get to Heaven I'm afraid United States Christians may be required to attend a seminar on resisting government pressure led by Daniel himself . How embarrassing would that be?
"Lord, I pray for the courage to stand up or rather kneel down like Daniel did and leave the consequences up to You. May those who want to convict me of belonging to You find plenty of evidence today! Amen."
(This blog originally appeared October 12, 2012)
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