Daniel 1:8

⁸ But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Daniel and his friends faced a real problem when they were taken as captives to Babylon.   It is like the challenge we face living in a culture that is increasingly hostile to Christianity.  How could they remain faithful to the Lord in a culture that was fundamentally antagonistic?  They could no longer serve the Lord as they once did, with temple worship, festivals, and a whole range of encouraging cultural assumptions.  The easy road would have been to become thoroughly Babylonian.

Instead, Daniel’s decision was to remain faithful to the Lord and adapt to his circumstances.  No doubt there were many ways he did this, but one is brought to prominence for us here.  He refused to eat the special food offered and chose to eat plain vegetables.  What to us might seem a quirky action was a determined distancing from the worship of the false gods to whom all royal food was dedicated.

We learn from this that in the struggles we have with our age, the most important issue is to remain loyal to our Lord Jesus even in difficult situations.  We follow the example of Daniel when we love our Lord above all else and do all in our power not to offend him by compromised loyalty.

David Johnston