When Daniel was taken to the king’s palace, he made the decision to not eat the food that the king was served. A Babylonian feast was always eaten in honour of the gods. So whenever people sat down to a meal, it wasn’t just dining that they participated in, but an act of worship. This food had previously been sacrificed to a pagan god. Daniel was someone who took his faith in God seriously, and if he participated in eating what everyone else was eating, it would mean he was compromising who he was called to be. By eating their meal, he would be worshipping their god. Eating that food would have compromised his character, and Daniel refused to let that happen. He had decided the things he believed in advance, so when he was faced with that situation, he was strong enough to stick with what he believed. When all is good and easy, we determine what we will or won’t do during the hard times. We come up with our core beliefs – the things we’ll do, or not do, no matter what. But when times get harder and temptation comes along, we can find ourselves making compromises. The psalmist said: ‘How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you’ (Psalm 119:9-11 NIV). So let’s get into God’s Word and use it to come up with the things we definitely don’t want to compromise on. And then ask God to help us stick to them, even when it gets tough.
