Fighting Temptation

Daniel 1:8: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

The Book of Daniel is the story of a man who lived a life without compromise. Daniel and his Jewish friends were taken captive to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar’s first attack against Jerusalem, while they were still young. They lived the majority of their lives in exile in a pagan nation, which meant they had to face the trials of living a sacred life in a very secular society. “Dare to be different” could be the title of this chapter, and the whole book of Daniel for that matter.

Over and over again Daniel found himself in a pressure-cooker environment as he tried to serve a Gentile king and still be faithful to the King of Kings. How did Daniel handle the pressure to compromise? God showed him a way that allowed him to obey the Lord as well as obey the laws of the king. Temptation to compromise our godly character is every believer’s daily struggle (some more than others). In addition to the struggles of our own flesh, we also live in a society that wants us to conform to its ungodly example. However, Jesus Christ has called us to dare to be different, to live a non-negotiable kind of faith.

There is a true story from WWII of the early British airman Handley Page. While he was landed in Kobar, Arabia, a large rat got into his airplane. He didn’t become aware of it till he was mid-air and heard the sound of gnawing behind him. Alarmed at the thought of the damage rat teeth could do, the aviator remembered that a rat is unable to survive at high altitudes. He pulled back on the stick, and rose until he got to the height where even he was barely able to breath. When he finally arrived at his destination and landed, he discovered that the rat was dead. Here is the lesson for us who seek help from gnawing temptation. When we feel the presence and danger of the pests that eat at our souls, we need to rise up through prayer into the presence of God where Satan dares not follow.

“LORD, we seek Your presence today to keep us from temptation, in Jesus’ name.”