Daniel (5) - Friday 6th June 2008

This week we have been looking at the book of Daniel. A good thought to end on is what, overall, does the person of Daniel teach us today?

Daniel was a man of amazing good character. He would have been young and inexperienced when he was first taken to Babylon; from an early age he was surrounded by pagan influences and yet he excelled in wisdom, maturity, integrity, humility, bravery, faithfulness, selflessness, and prayer. Society needs men and women like this today.
Long ago, the people of China wanted security from the barbaric hordes to the north, so they built the Great Wall of China. The wall was too high to climb over, too strong to break down, and too long to get around and they had every reason to feel secure.
Unfortunately, over the next hundred years China was invaded three times from the north. Was the wall a failure? No - not once did the barbarians climb over the wall, or break it down, or go around it. They simply bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right in through an open gate. The fatal flaw in the Chinese defence was relying too much on a wall and neglecting to instil good character in the gatekeeper.
Our society today is in a similar predicament. Our moral security is based on seemingly wonderful structures such as education and television, but it all counts for nothing without the character traits of Daniel.

Daniel could have had numerous excuses for giving up and living for himself but didn’t. Our challenge for today is to find situations where we can demonstrate the character that pleases God.

Do see what our team have been doing at Casa Re-OM in Beira Mozambique, visit their blog daily: http://casareom2008.blogspot.com