Once Again, Daniel And His Friends!

Hello everyone. Today I wanted to talk about Daniel and his friends.

As many of us know, Daniel and his friends were four young Jewish men who were taken to a different land. In this place, they had their names changed. But why did they change the names of Daniel and his friends? Because it would make them forget where they came from, who they were and would include them in that new context in which they would live. Likewise, today, in many ways, we are forced to forget where we came from and who we are. In this case, that we are children of God; servants of the Most High God. In an attempt to escape loneliness and try to be accepted in a certain group or context, we are tempted to abandon our Christian principles and, often, we are led to think that things are normal or to like things that, in reality, we do not like at all and do not think are right. When we try to be part of certain groups and contexts that do not keep the principles of the Lord, there begins to be conflicts, both from us towards the people who do not follow our principles, and from them towards us. It is very important for us to remain firm on the Lord's path, even with so much pressure and fear of being alone, because when we do this, we inspire other servants of God to do the right thing.

Let's take the story of Daniel at the beginning of his stay in Babylon. The Bible tells us that when Daniel saw the king's food, he decided in his heart not to defile himself with it. The Bible says that the decision came from Daniel, but his friends also accepted his idea. In this way, we learn that when we make decisions that please the Lord, we influence those around us to do the same. (Daniel 1.8-16)

We can also see throughout the story of these four young men that, eventually, in the lives of us Christians, we will come across situations in which the enemy will try to make us worship him, and forget to worship the Lord. But he will not try to make us worship him with our mouths, but with our actions. (Daniel chapter 3)

When we decide not to do wrong, we stand out like a sore thumb. Everyone prostrates themselves, and we remain standing, because our joy and faithfulness is in God. Then come many attacks and ugly looks, but God delivers us from all evil. I believe so LOL!

And there is another point that is worth mentioning in this story. At first, because we do what is right and do not mix with what is evil in God's eyes, we will feel somewhat lonely. We notice in the story of Daniel and his friends that they walked in a small group of four friends. But we also see Daniel walking alone throughout the book. Don’t worry if you are alone because you don’t want to mix with people who do what is wrong. God always raises up someone to be our friend. He doesn’t leave us alone with His presence, and He also provides a friend for us. So we don’t have to accept or like wrong things to include ourselves in bad groups or contexts.

So, in this way, God will always help us and guide us along our journey. Daniel and his friends did not become important people in human eyes because they were extremely skilled and capable. Rather, they were important in God’s eyes, and God helped them in everything. Everything good that they could do was granted to them by God, and they recognized this. 

I hope this text was useful for you all!

Thank you all for your attention!