As for these four
youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature
and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Then at the
end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander
of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with
them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service. As for every matter of
wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten
times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. And
Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.
God is so good! Imagine those young Jewish men going
all that way to Babylon and then becoming part of the King’s court because God
gave them such wisdom, knowledge and understanding. They were smarter
than the King who found them ten times smarter than his “wise” men. King
Nebuchadnezzar was obviously impressed with Daniel and his three friends. What
yardstick did the King use to measure such wisdom? How do we “judge” others
around us? Do we measure them against God’s standard of integrity? Daniel was
not noted as a man after God’s own heart, as we hear about David nor was he
given the privilege of knowing God as Moses did, but Daniel was regarded as a
man of high esteem (Daniel 10:11, 19
NASB).
The Bing dictionary online defines integrity as:
possession of firm principles: the quality of possessing
and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards. Spiritually, the best we can do is to seek God with all of our
heart, as commanded by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (NASB) This is
repeated by Jesus in Matthew 22:37 and Mark 12:30. In doing this—seeking God—we
will become that person of integrity, highly esteemed by God and by our fellow
man. How are you seeking God today?
Lord, let me be wise and seek you
with all of my heart, soul and mind that my life may be pleasing to you and that I may be as devoted to You as Daniel was.
Happy 4th of July! May God Bless our
nation and guide our leaders, giving them wisdom, knowledge and understanding,
even exceeding that of Daniel.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Scripture from The Message, except where noted.
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