“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 1:12-13)
So how did Daniel react when this Babylonian official said he and his Jewish friends were going to be treated to the king’s best food and wine, like it or not?
1) He resolved in his own mind that he absolutely would not violate his convictions. He would obey God and trust him with the consequences.
2) He didn’t act like a jerk. He didn’t slug the guy. He didn’t react with a holier-than-you-dirty-Babylonians attitude. He responded respectfully.
3) He did the most obvious thing and asked the official for permission to skip the off-limits foods. The official said, “No.”
4) He suggested a creative alternative: Why not test us for ten days and see if we don’t do just as well on veggies and water as all the other guys eating meat and wine? Because God was watching out for Daniel, the official said, “Yes.”
Think: Is it possible to resist the temptation in an ugly or arrogant way? Have you ever avoided compromising your convictions by coming up with a creative alternative?
Pray: Ask God to help you to resist pressure to go along with sin as Daniel did, without compromise, with respect and kindness, and trusting God with the results.
Do: Read about God’s guaranteed “chicken exit” for temptation in 1 Corinthians 10:13.