Saturday, July 07, 2007

Daniel's Example

(Dan 10:12) Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

I read Daniel chapters 9 and 10 for my devotional reading today in the Old Testament. The above verse really grabbed my attention. Two times in the two chapters Daniel is referred to as “beloved” by God. Daniel had a very close relationship to God, and much of this is seen in these two chapters. Many times we miss it because we concentrate on the prophetic aspect of the two chapters. In the verse I gave above, the angel was sent in response to Daniel’s prayer. I want you to notice the two things mentioned that Daniel did which pleased the Lord: 1) He set his heart to understand 2)He chastened himself before God.

Oh, how we need Christians to follow Daniel’s example today. Oh, how I need to follow Daniel’s example. How we need to set our heart on God and to seek to understand. How we need to “chasten” ourselves. Instead of seeking things of this world, we need to be seeking to understand God and what he has given us to do, seeking to draw closer to him, and seeking to understand His Word. Then deny ourselves and submit to God in all things. Perhaps if we had more of these attributes in our lives, we would see God moving more in our prayer life.