Dan 1:10-21, Dan 1:10-21, Good resolution, practice and its blessings

Dan 1:10-21, Dan 1:10-21, Good resolution, practice and its blessings

10-21,
10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your‡ food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”
14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.
20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

(Sermon Summary)
  Daniel made a decision worthy of God's Word. He decided that he would not defile himself with the king's food and wine. So God gave him the favor of the eunuch (9). But the battle of faith continues. The eunuch refused Daniel's request, fearing that he would die (10). Daniel does not give up (Gal. 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”, Mt.7:7-8, Ask, seek, and knock), and humbly asks his subordinate overseer(guard) to try vegetables for 10 days (11-13). In the end he allows this reasonable alternative (14).
And, Daniel and his three friends receive the overflowing blessings of God's grace through good determination and action.

1. Enjoy the blessing of health (Body health, 15).
  Ten days later, their faces were more beautiful and shiny, and they looked better than the other young people. Mt. 6:33, Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and He will bless you. Mt. 13:43, The Lord makes the righteous shine like the sun.

2. The blessing of learning (Intellect, 17).
  God said they were ten times better (perfectly superior) than the wise men of Babylon. The four boys received the revelation and wisdom of God as a gift, not worldly knowledge or wisdom.

3. The blessing of realizing visions and dreams (Spiritual power, 17b).
  Daniel also received divine gifts and supernatural revelations. In chapters 2, 3 and 7 he interprets the king's dreams, and in chapter 5 he interprets the strange writing on the wall. In the end, Daniel became the spiritual torch lamp of the time, giving the hope of liberation and return to the captives of Israel.
4. The blessing of receiving the favor of the king (Men’s blessing, 19, 20).
  Three years later, all trainees were given an in-depth interview with the king. The result was a triumph for the four boys who excelled. Eventually, the king made them serve as advisers by his side.

5. Enjoyed a long life (21).
  He lived as a minister serving the king and the people for about 70 years from 605 BC to the first year of King Cyrus (539, 10:1-year 536). He lived a long life in the body and was a blessed man who also lived a long political life. He saw the king who had taken him as a captive died, and Babylon was destroyed. He also saw that his compatriots were returning to their homeland.

  Dear saints, God, the Lord of Daniel, is our Lord. He is the subject of our lives, our homes, and our churches(Gn. 1;1, Creator God, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”). Daniel followed the path of God, the ruler of the whole world, until the end, and God allowed him to prosper until the end. He made him victorious forever. Let's all enjoy God's blessing through good resolution and practice. I bless you that you will live as an eternal victor while enjoying physical strength, intellect, spiritual power, favor with the world, and longevity in spirit and body. Amen.