In Daniel chapter 1, we're introduced to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. These four teenagers were people who loved and followed God. In fact, their names had meanings that were tied to their faith (for example, Daniel's name meant "God is Just").
When the city of Jerusalem was taken over by the armies of Babylon, Daniel and his friends were taken as slaves and brought to Babylon. They were then enrolled in a super strict high school that would train them to become the King's servants. While at the school, they were told to forget about God and were even given new names. The names they were given all had meanings associated with the many false gods of Babylon (for example, Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar which meant "Bel protects my life").
On top of that, when they showed up at the school cafeteria, they discovered that the food was stuff that God had told them not to go near. The reason for this was because the food was being offered to idols and used in sacrifices to false gods before it was served. Daniel and his friends felt that eating this food would be wrong, so they gave the leader of their school a cool challenge- the starvation diet challenge. Daniel said that they would live on a diet of only a few veggies and water for 10 days, while all of the others in the school could eat what they wanted. At the end of the 10 days, Daniel believed that God would ensure that they would be stronger and smarter than all of the other students. Daniel and his friends trusted that if they followed God and were obedient to him (even in something as seemingly insignificant as the type of foods they could eat) that God would take care of them and even do a miracle in their situation. That's exactly what happened. Even though they had barely eaten anything, they were found to be stronger and smarter than everybody else.
THEY WERE COMMITTED TO FOLLOWING GOD, EVEN IN THE "LITTLE THINGS".
Have you ever faced a decision or choice where you KNEW deep down inside that one of those options was the opposite of what God would want you to do? When Daniel and his friends discovered where the food had come from, they decided that even though it would be hard, they would choose to do what God wanted. Every day we face small, sometimes seemingly insignificant, choices where we can do what we want or what God wants. It might be tempting to tell a "little white lie" to avoid some trouble, to join in on some juicy gossip about somebody, to make fun of somebody who looks different, or to listen to music or watch a movie that we know God wouldn't be proud of. It can be especially hard to do what we know is right when everybody else around us is doing something different or pressuring us to do what's wrong. Our Bible story reminds us that when we're committed to following God and doing right (even in the small choices we face) , not only will God be super proud of us, but he'll also take care of us.
QUESTIONS FOR HOME
1. This week we talked about how we're faced with tough choices every day. We can choose to say or do what we know God would want us to say or do, or we can go our own way and follow the crowd. Ask your teen about some of the challenges and pressures that they face when they're at school or in their own circle of friends. What kinds of things might they feel pressured to say or do that are the opposite of what God might want them to do?
2. Take the time to pray with your teen. Pray that, like in the case of Daniel and his friends, they would be able to stand up against pressure and do the right thing even if it's hard. Thank God that he promises to be with us and take care of us when we follow him.
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