What is Your Diet?

What comes to mind when the words "Daniel of the Bible" shows up often brings to mind that well-known story about a man stuck in a pit full of lions and surviving. I too can attest to thinking of "Daniel and the Lion's Den" when the name Daniel comes up.

However, when you read more stories about Daniel than just the one about the Lion's Den, it is likely the overall theme Daniel represents will be noticed. All throughout the book of Daniel, we see a sort of faith that cannot be matched or compared to anyone else. Daniel stands up to unlikely situations with a mindset that God will pull him through the most difficult times. His faith is absolutely unshakable and his confidence in the Lord is what gives him strength.

Instead of looking at the Lion's Den story, lets look at an incident that is usually bypassed. I like to call it the Vegetable Story. It starts off with King Nebuchadnezzar ordering the chief of the court officials to find some servants, "without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the kind's palace" (Daniel 1:4NIV). Daniel was one of these men, so it is evident Daniel was the hot commodity in the land. What is to come, though, shows more than just his good looks, wisdom, and strong work ethic. Out of all of these characteristics, his faith is what propels him forward.

Throughout training, Daniel and the other potential servants were required to drink and eat the "royal food and wine" (Daniel 1:8NIV). However, to Daniel, what is royal to the common people was considered a defiling of the body that God created. Instead of taking in the "royal food and wine," Daniel makes his voice heard and tells the chief official that this royal food and wine is not what he should be partaking in. With the help of the Lord, the official showed "favor and compassion to Daniel" (Daniel 1:9NIV). After the chief official reminded Daniel that the king would behead the official if he had found out about Daniel's request, Daniel had come up with a solution.

"Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see" (Daniel 1:12-13NIV). Daniel, a handsome, hardworking stud is partaking in the life of a royal servant. His training involves the P.F. Chang's of dining experiences, the Atlantis, Bahamas of workplaces, and the Egg McMuffin of summer jobs. Ultimately, Daniel gets the experience of a lifetime, especially regarding food service. Like receiving a year supply of Chobani yogurt, Daniel receives a possible lifetime supply of royal food and wine; what does he suggest? Give us vegetables and water and see what we look like compared to your other servants who are living in paradise.

Alright, so Daniel decided to eat vegetables instead of royal food, water instead of wine; no big deal, right? If the guy does not like cranberry chicken, lobster, coconut shrimp, or caviar, with some of the finest wine, then that is his decision.

What makes Daniel's decision so respectable is why he chooses to decline the command to follow through with the kings orders. Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with royal food and wine." Daniel refuses to let his body be contaminated by what the world views as pleasurable. If he wants to be the best servant he can be, Daniel needs to keep his body in tip-top shape. Better yet, his solution is to eat the bare essentials for eating healthy: water and vegetables. From there, he tells the official to see what Daniel and his friends look like compared to those filled with royal food and wine. Daniel puts his faith in the strict diet he chooses over the royal food before him. No cranberry chicken for him! Save the lobster and the caviar for the others. Daniel is going to keep his body well-nourished so that he does not become lazy and ruin his body.

Like Daniel, we not only should watch what we physically eat, but what we spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically take in. Daniel refused to eat what  the world would so quickly consume, and we should learn from Daniel and do the same. As servants of Christ, we need to be aware of the difference between unhealthy and healthy. Daniel is a hero, and his faith was not only evident in the big things (near death experience with lions), but in the small things (choosing healthy food over gluttony). His heart was in the right place, and he treated his body as a "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19NIV). After ten days, the bodies of Daniel and his friends looked much sharper than those who partook in the wine and royal food. The former were promoted and the latter were demoted. Through faith, Daniel declined the king's orders and went with his heart, which told him to only eat vegetables and drink water. Because of his faith and persistence, Daniel moved on to the next round.

What kind of diet is God revealing to you? Are you adjusting your spiritual diet to fit His desires for your life? Or, are you adjusting your spiritual diet to fit the world? Is your focus on what God wants from you, or are you following the things of this world?

Struggling with Comfort

Close your eyes. Picture a scene of tranquility, where your biggest worry is whether the waiter is going to remember the virgin strawberry daiquiri you ordered 10 minutes ago. You are on a beach in the Bahamas, about four miles from the cruise that brought you there. No one is going to hurt you, and everyone wants to help you find your way. The best part is this: since you have been working so hard at the high-paying job you have, your boss has told you to go on vacation, all expenses paid for.

This is the ultimate dream vacation, correct?

Today, when we think about the life and eventual death of Jesus, we usually envision one of two things: the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus. This is not to discount the years in between, or even to insinuate people do not put much thought into the "middle years" of Jesus, but the most celebrated times were that of Jesus' birth and death.

Specifically, Jesus' death is symbolic of not only our status' as saved souls, but the pain he went through to get there; yet, the latter is not simply a reason to be inspired by the heroism that our Savior characterizes, but also to teach us how to be human.

Luke 9:23 says, "Then [Jesus] said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Jesus was following through with his Father's direction, and Jesus followed them just as we should follow God's direction for us. Matthew 7:21 says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Our mission in this temporary existence is to do the will of the Lord, which is to "deny [yourself] and take up [your] cross daily."

Is it comfortable to deny oneself? Is it in any way enjoyable to take up the symbolic cross? Jesus was brutally beaten, mocked, humiliated, spit upon, and physically destroyed by the stubborn and vile hearts of the sinners. It seemed as though sin had conquered God's son. Now, Jesus commands us to carry our cross like he did?

Well, it might not sound comforting to be mocked and humiliated both physically and emotionally, but here is comforting news, and it comes in a parable:

Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field" (Matthew 13:44 NIV).

Using this parable, Jesus puts the kingdom of heaven in terms that humans can relate to. When it comes to some of the things we possess, we do very similar things like the man in the parable. We are willing to be mocked for the things we love, we claim we would take the bullet for our children, and we spend countless hours on things that matter to us. As a result, we are willing to be put to the test to prove how devoted we are to our possessions.

If we love God and want to serve him, it will show. Our comfort is in him; our hope is to be true to God and nothing else. Our wealth does not matter, our health does not matter, and our possessions do not matter. In the grand scheme of things, we are here on earth to glorify God and allow him to take care of the rest. St. Augustine, from his book Confessions, asserts that "our blessing is to know that [God is] in control." Our security and safety is in the Lord, so wherever he takes us, we can take comfort in the fact that our physical bodies can take any beating it can, only if it does not interfere with our hope in him.

Take comfort in the Lord, for he is the only treasure that is worth investing in. Once you maintain that treasure, protect it in every circumstance, for it is your lifeline. Fall back on the Lord, and he will "give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4 NIV). You may try to convince yourself that you will find your own desires, but take delight in the Lord, and he will make your real desires known to you.

After all, He made you, and He knows what is best, even if it may seem uncomfortable at first glance.

A Moment of Silence, Please?

The sound of a distant train. The crunching of pebbles. The quiet breeze blowing. The empty mind letting silence do the talking.


Quiet.


In our world, it is quite daring to climb over the wall that separates noise and silence. The idea of shutting up and letting silence speak the words we need to hear seems to take a lot of strength to do. We never get used to the busy life, but somehow we find ourselves attracted to it. Either we feel attracted to it or we feel slowing down will only remove us from any consistency, comfort, or necessity we need to survive. Take any man's career, for example. The man toils and labors nonstop, just to spend the income on things he needs to live; and it does not stop. Everybody goes round and round, never stopping to think to let peace and quiet fill the mind.
It is an interesting presence, silence. Sometimes, we need to shut up and let the Lord speak to us. Even when we are not verbally making noise, the world supplies the noise we are forced to partake in. Everyday, we are dragged out of bed whether we want to or not, feeling the pressure of spending the day productively. When we are silent, letting the whispers of outside noise appease our scattered minds, we find peace; we find God.
How many times do you think about the ground you walk on? How often do you consider the simplicity of the   grass and the complexity of our DNA? What about the sun? Or the infinite stars in the sky?
All of these things can remind us of God's mysterious beauty if we let silence run its course.
So, please, do shut up and let silence do the talking. Let God tell you something you would only hear if you remove yourself from the busy schedule demanded of you. There is something beautiful about that silence, so make time for some silence - maybe check out this video.