DANIEL 1:14-15: So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenance appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.
Eric Liddell, a young Scottish ministerial student, was the best sprinter in the British Empire. He was favored to win the 100 meter race in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
A few weeks before the Games, however, he learned that the preliminary 100 meter races were scheduled for a Sunday afternoon. Liddell considered participating in Sunday sports dishonoring to the Lord.
His friends then began to notice during the weeks prior to the Olympics that he excused himself after dinner each evening and would return home hours later, exhausted. A few weeks later the whole world discovered his secret. He had spent those evening hours practicing for another event that was scheduled for a weekday but which required a different type of speed and endurance.
On the closing day of the Olympics, he stood on the winner’s platform and received the Gold Medal as the 400-meter champion. By putting God’s honor first, Liddell himself received honor.
Daniel was faced with a similar choice. To him and his friends, partaking of the king’s refreshments would be shameful before the Lord. Bravely they chose to honor God.
When they did so, God honored them. After ten days of eating only vegetables, they were in better condition than those who had eaten of the king’s food.
The pressure to compromise is tremendous. Many people tell us that unless we choose to follow the world’s standards we’ll never get ahead. If we don’t drink socially; we’ll never rub elbows with the influential people who can make our business a success.
If we aren’t willing to engage in premarital sex, we’ll never meet a potential marriage partner obviously, Satan skews such thinking. If we choose to honor God with our lives, He will honor us by meeting our needs. Put God’s honor first, and your honor will never suffer.
HONOR GOD AND HE WILL NEVER DISHONOR YOU.