A CAUSE WORTH DYING FOR!

Everyone remembers the story of Daniel and the Lion’s den. In Daniel chapter 6 verse 3 we read how much the king favored Daniel “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” Well, you can imagine that the news of this went over like a lead balloon because the very next verse tells us “at this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.”

We’ve all worked with people like the administrators and satraps, haven’t we? Or maybe, if you’ve been lucky enough not to have to work with someone like this, chances are that you’ve known someone like this. These people first went after Daniel by looking at his work, nitpicking it and turning over every page, reading every memo that Daniel sent out, just trying to find something that they could take to King Darius to use against Daniel and to try and get him fired. In verse 5 we are told “Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." If you are a Christian that is what the lost people in the world are doing to you. The world is very good about watching our every move so that when we stumble they can point at us and make themselves feel better about how they are living their own lives.

The administrators and satraps huddled together to devise a plan to be able to charge Daniel with something so that they could get him out of their hair once and for all. So they decided to play up to the king’s pride. In verse 6 we read “So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den. 8 Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered--in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.”

The decree was issued and for the next 30 days anyone caught praying to any god or man other than the king would be thrown into the lion’s den. Well, Daniel ignored this decree and went right on praying to God. Daniel was ignoring the king’s decree and doing what he knew he was supposed to do and that was to follow what God told him to do. Well you know the rest of the story. Daniel was placed in the lion’s den, but the Lord sent an angel to shut the mouth of the lions. The king realized that those that came up with the decree were jealous of Daniel and he also knew that he had done wrong by listening to them and by issuing the decree. When he realized that Daniel’s God had saved him, the king then had the men that accused Daniel thrown into the lions den along with their wives and children. Before they even hit the floor of the lions den they were devoured.

What lessons can we learn from this story? We learn that lost people watch us closely. They watch to see how we conduct business and how we live our lives. We also learn that when we are diligent and continually walk in the way of the Lord, our God does reward us for our faithful service to Him. In Daniel’s case he was first rewarded through his job and then he was saved from a horrible death. In verse 10 we read “now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Even though the decree was issued that anyone breaking the order would be thrown in the lion’s den, Daniel didn’t hesitate to pray to God. Daniel knew that being obedient to God was a cause that was worth dying for.

With the way the world is going these days, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to see the events unfolding from the book of Revelations. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that one of these days all Christians will be under severe attack. We will each have to take a stand and decide if being obedient to Christ is a cause that is worth dying for.

Cindy

Bible Verse taken from the New International Version
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