Dare to be a Daniel!

The siege is over, the enemy triumphs. They are now taking over the country you love so much. You watch with horror as they tear apart the city, ruining everything in their path. You are terrified, because you are a part of the royal family and you have no idea what they have in mind for you. What does the future hold? Death? Captivity?

Prophets have foretold this event for years and no one listened, no one cared. They continued their wicked ways and God has now brought judgement. But you are young, just a teenager. What will your future look like? You soon find out. You are to be taken to Babylon. Life as you know it will change forever as you live in a country that is cruel and has no concept of the fear of God.

After a long, difficult journey you arrive at Babylon. You realize that the king of Babylon has a very special plan for the Jewish captives--brainwashing. You have a hard decision to make. Will you go with the flow, reject everything you once knew and embrace the Babylonian philosophy? Will you reject the one and true God? Or will you take a stand for truth and refuse to bow down to the Babylonian philosophies?

This is what Daniel faced. He was a young teenage boy who was taken to Babylon after Jerusalem was besieged and captured. He was taken to a hostile environment of his enemies who did not know God or follow His law. He was chosen to go through a three year program aimed to make him forget his Jewish roots and embrace the Babylonian language and culture. His name was changed from Daniel, which means

"God is my judge," to Belteshazzar after a Babylonian god (Daniel 4:7).

Daniel takes a stand for truth and refuses to be defiled by the king's food. Remember Daniel is a teenager when this takes place. As a teenager he refused to go with the flow, to bend to cultural pressures and to compromise his standards. That was the start of 70 years of standing alone for the truth and serving God no matter what the consequences were. 70 years in a foreign country full of ungodly kings, enemies who delighted in nit picking Daniel and communicating God's Word to kings which was for the most part weren't encouraging words, but words of rebuke and warning. It all started with Daniel refusing to compromise as a young person. How many young people in this nation would stand alone like Daniel did?

Our world in many ways is very much like Daniel's. We live in a culture that is attacking Christianity from every side trying to brainwash us to believe the worldly philosophy and lies. School, work, politics, entertainments, books, magazines, TV, movies, music, advertisements, etc. etc, etc. They all have an agenda, they all want us to forget who we are and conform to their thinking. What will we do with these temptations?

Will we take a stand for truth? Will we be more concerned about our relationship with God or what the world thinks? Will we compromise? Stand alone? Will we bend to what the culture teaches us? Will we go with the flow? It starts when we're young, when we are teenagers. It starts in steps. One compromise leads to another and another until you are trapped in the snares of the world.

Our world is becoming more and more perverted, more and more like Daniel's world. This is the time to stand alone. To become that strong light to the pitch black world. Young people, stand for the truth, seek God above all else, do not compromise, do not go with the flow. Dare to be a Daniel!!