Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Discipleship: The Call to Bear the Cross

  Bible portion:  Daniel 6:10-23

  “…he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”  (Daniel 6:10)
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Devotion

From a captive to one of the most powerful people of the kingdom of Babylon. Daniel was neither a soldier nor a politician but a man who trusted God during every hurdle he came across. Daniel was one among four: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They all had the aptitude for every kind of learning and had the ability to understand quickly like any other wise men. But they stood out from other wisemen with the deep love, trust and respect for God. This is the same among us too. The person next to us, a colleague or a relative might be a step ahead with the intellect or ability to think or move. But with a closer walk and respect to God, success will definitely follows us.

Daniel lived as a wiseman under different kings. He served during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, his son King Belshazzar before Darius. Daniel was an honest and a humble person who made sure to let Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar know, unless you’re humbled by God, no matter how powerful you’re, everything comes to an end in no time. It was during the rule of Darius, under the influence of his administrators a decree was published to throw anyone in the Den of Lions who prayed to any Gods but the King for the next thirty days. Here Daniel sets an example by being grateful and loyal to the Lord. He could’ve waited for thirty days by holding back his prayer to escape from the Lions’ den. But he is being loyal and trustful to the Most Holy, stuck to his routine to kneel down three times and thanked God. Daniel was later thrown into the den, but angels sent by God shut the lions’ mouth.

God keeps testing us, but he makes sure we are faced with only what we can bear. He might draw us to the mountain cliff to test our faith but His strong hands will hold us back from falling down. Our only job is to trust and be assured that His strong mighty hands will hold us tight. The solution may or may not reach us soon. But it will, as long as you trust him. We only need to wait for His time to make things beautiful  for us in our life.  Even though Daniel won gold and accolades with his ability to interpret the dreams, the best of the awards was when the kings proclaimed his subjects to praise “the God of Daniel”.
 
Prayer
God our heavenly father, in you we trust. We submit ourselves to you. We thank you for what we are and help us to be the light to others.  Give us a heart like Daniel has, a heart for God’s people and a heart to urge for God’s Glory. Give us faith in fears and power in our powerlessness.  God strengthen us to bear the storm that comes our way and lighten our path with your wisdom.

Thought for the Day
“God could have kept Daniel out of the lion's den. But God has never promised to keep us out of hard places. What He has promised is to go with us through every hard place and bring us through victoriously.” - Merv Rosell

                                                                                                                            
Allan Philip
Carmel Mar Thoma Church, Boston

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