July 3 –Try It for 10 Days

Daniel 1:8–16

But Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the king's food or drinking his wine, so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet. The head of the palace staff, by God's grace, liked Daniel, but he warned him, "I'm afraid of what my master the king will do. He is the one who assigned this diet and if he sees that you are not as healthy as the rest, he'll have my head!" But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: "Try us out for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what you see." The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.

When was the last time that you tried a new diet for 10 days? I’ve frequently tried  new diets…the South Beach Diet, the Flat Belly Diet, the buy a month’s supply of cardboard food diet, the liquid diet, the cabbage soup diet, the sacred heart diet (not associated with the hospital of that name) and on and on. I never did try the cookie diet, but that sounds like fun…just cookies, yum! Since too rich a diet is not energizing, it is no wonder that Daniel asked for good foods—lots of vegetables. In fact, that is a vegetarian diet—and that is one that I’ve tried for a meal a week. Not much weight loss with just a change for one meatless meal a week, but it is surprising the variety of dishes that are vegetarian. I think that Daniel’s diet of just fruits and vegetables would be doable for ten days...or a lifetime. Maybe I could do that, lots of other people are successful eating vegetarian.

Daniel was honoring God by following the teaching given to Moses concerning the dietary restrictions (see Leviticus 11:47 and Exodus 34:15). It might have been tempting to have taken the rich diet that was offered, but Daniel was a man of integrity and did not want to defile the temple of his body with foods that could have been offered to pagan idols. Daniel and his friends were rewarded by God for seeking to eat the foods that were pure and wholesome. Do we defile the temple of our bodies by what we eat or drink, or by what we take in mentally or spiritually? 

Lord, forgive me for seeking and eating food that is not appropriate for this body that You have given to me. Help me to be like Daniel, a person with integrity who honors You in all that I do, including eating food and studying scripture.

© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

Scripture from The Message, except where noted.