Daniel 6

Daniel 6:10 (ESV)

[10] When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

I have always loved this story, but more recently I am beginning to identify with it. Daniel was doing well integrating into a pagan society while still practicing his faith, but suddenly things changed. Laws were made that made the practice of his faith illegal. I have grown up in a fairly protected world. Yes, bad things happened around me, but the practice of my faith was usually respected. The world I live in has changed and is changing rapidly. It is a wave of change that has been slowly building. Now suddenly I am beginning to hear the Bible referred to as a book of hate. I see the morality I grew up with not just questioned, but attacked. I see immorality flaunted as a religion. Just look at the recent Grammy Awards. The entire program was a church service dedicated to immorality.

How did Daniel respond to laws that made his faith illegal? "He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously." So, here comes the test. I am really serious about this faith I claim or is it just a part of my life that I will give up when it is no longer convenient? Will I continue to do what God has called me to do even if it becomes illegal, or will I decide that's not really what God meant? Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism has been trying for 40 years to save society. It appears that we have not been particularly successful, although I would like to think that we have at least slowed down the expansion of evil. The real question is, will we remain faithful to the fundamentals of the faith even when the world calls evil good and good evil? Do we even know anymore what those fundamentals of the faith are?

When the law was passed making prayer illegal Daniel continued to pray. What will we do? As Peter Jones wrote in an article entitled Your Grammys Church, "But there is hope. Those watching or attending the church of the Grammys are made in God's image and will one day be disillusioned with the lie. Christians "shine as lights" by "telling the truth" in a dark world." (http://truthxchange.com/articles/2014/01/28/your-grammys-church/) Father, may I be found faithful even as the world around me changes. May I truly be a light in a dark world.

By His grace

Rick Weinert