Defiled by the "Good"
"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way."
-Daniel 1:8
Daniel was a young man who was taken captive by Babylon. The king had him and three other young men pulled aside because they were, "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 (Daniel 1:4)." He and his three friends were brought into the royal court, given amazing training and given the best food the king had to offer. Sounds amazing, right?
Wrong. Daniel knew that he was not supposed to be defiling himself with the food and wine of the Babylonian king. He knew that God did not want this for his life. In fact, he felt so strongly about it that he asked permission just to eat vegetables and drink water. Hesitantly, he was granted this permission, and this diet of food allowed him to become the healthiest and strongest out of all the men in training.
This kind of blew my mind. Here Daniel is, offered with this amazing opportunity and given something that we would not see as inherently bad. I mean, good food and wine. This is something that he very easily could've justified. Daniel could've said, "Well, this is what the king wants me to eat. Everyone else is eating this food, and they are fine. There is nothing sinful about food." But he knew without a shadow of a doubt that doing this would be defiling himself in God's eyes.
Now think of it this way. We are God's people. We are essentially living in captivity like Daniel, in that we are living in a fallen and broken world. There are so many things that we come across on a daily basis that aren't bad things, but may very well be things that God feels strongly about us having. Are we defiling ourselves by taking part in these things?
One thing that convicted me was social media. I spend entirely too much time on Facebook. Now, the world may not see this as a bad thing; in fact, they all may be doing the exact same thing and turning out fine. But, if I'm spending an hour a day on social media, that is clearly taking away from time that I could be spending in the presence of God. And why would I want to turn out fine, when I could be like Daniel, and be the best for God that I can be? If I can be doing something that would help me to be better used for his glory, I absolutely should be doing it.
So I ask you: are you defiling yourself with a "good" thing?
-Daniel 1:8
Daniel was a young man who was taken captive by Babylon. The king had him and three other young men pulled aside because they were, "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 (Daniel 1:4)." He and his three friends were brought into the royal court, given amazing training and given the best food the king had to offer. Sounds amazing, right?
Wrong. Daniel knew that he was not supposed to be defiling himself with the food and wine of the Babylonian king. He knew that God did not want this for his life. In fact, he felt so strongly about it that he asked permission just to eat vegetables and drink water. Hesitantly, he was granted this permission, and this diet of food allowed him to become the healthiest and strongest out of all the men in training.
This kind of blew my mind. Here Daniel is, offered with this amazing opportunity and given something that we would not see as inherently bad. I mean, good food and wine. This is something that he very easily could've justified. Daniel could've said, "Well, this is what the king wants me to eat. Everyone else is eating this food, and they are fine. There is nothing sinful about food." But he knew without a shadow of a doubt that doing this would be defiling himself in God's eyes.
Now think of it this way. We are God's people. We are essentially living in captivity like Daniel, in that we are living in a fallen and broken world. There are so many things that we come across on a daily basis that aren't bad things, but may very well be things that God feels strongly about us having. Are we defiling ourselves by taking part in these things?
One thing that convicted me was social media. I spend entirely too much time on Facebook. Now, the world may not see this as a bad thing; in fact, they all may be doing the exact same thing and turning out fine. But, if I'm spending an hour a day on social media, that is clearly taking away from time that I could be spending in the presence of God. And why would I want to turn out fine, when I could be like Daniel, and be the best for God that I can be? If I can be doing something that would help me to be better used for his glory, I absolutely should be doing it.
So I ask you: are you defiling yourself with a "good" thing?
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