Cathy’s Corner
This week we are teaching about Daniel and the Lion’s Den from Daniel 6:1-28. It isn’t always easy to do the right thing.
Daniel found himself favored by the king. Because of his integrity and his exceptional qualities the king planned to put him in charge over the whole kingdom. There were administrators who were trying to find grounds for having Daniel declared corrupt. They couldn’t because he was trustworthy, and neither corrupt nor negligent. They finally decided the only way they could get to him was to find charges that had to do with the law of his God. They were able to get the king to issue a decree that anyone who prays to any god or man except the king during the next thirty day period would be thrown into the lion’s den. King Darius put the decree in writing.
Daniel was not moved and he went home and opened up his windows and prayed three times a day, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before. Then the men reported him to the king and the king was saddened to learn it was Daniel. He was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort to save him. But the men were insistent that he follow his own law. So the king had Daniel thrown into the lions den but he also said. “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” The king then spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being bought to him, and he could not sleep.
The next morning the king rushed to the lion’s den and called out to Daniel to see if God had rescued him. Daniel was unhurt and the king was overjoyed. He had Daniel’s accusers thrown into the lion’s den. Because of what happened King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language issuing decrees that in every part of his kingdom people must fear and revere the God of Daniel.
I received this in an email devotion this week and thought the part on obedience went along with our lesson.
A Faithful Man "A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished." Proverbs 28:20
There is a distinct difference between the workplace believers who operates based on living in the Promised Land versus the one who operates in
In the Promised Land, we learn that obedience is the only thing that matters. We are called to execute, and leave outcome to God. Sometimes that outcome is very positive, yielding a return. In other cases, we may not yield a corresponding return. We may even get a negative outcome. The difference is that we know that we have been faithful to what God has called us to and we yield results to God. God often blesses obedience beyond what we deserve. If God brings wealth to your life, it should come as a by-product of obedience, not an end in itself.
God may call each of us to be obedient to situations that may not yield immediate, positive results. It is in these times that our faith must be obedience-based versus outcome-based. What if Jesus had considered the immediate ramifications of whether he would go to the cross? Based on the immediate outcome, the decision would have been an easy one. Who wants to die on a cross? However, for Him there was a higher purpose in that obedience. We are called to this same kind of obedience. This means putting our own flesh on the line daily, dying to our own self-will. This is what it means to be a faithful man. I pray that God will make us all faithful men and women today.
Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Lead
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