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“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:8).
As young men, Daniel and his friends had been taken captive by the Babylonians when the kingdom of Judah was conquered back in 605 B.C. But king Nebuchadnezzar recognized their ability and wanted to train them to serve him. Daniel might easily have neglected the law of Moses, but even in captivity, he wanted to please the Lord, and he “purposed in his heart” to do so. You may remember that according to the law of Moses, the Israelites were not allowed to eat certain kinds of meat. Daniel was determined that he would not defile himself with the food the king offered, and the Lord honored him and his friends by making a way for them to do this. They had to be content with what we would call a “vegetarian” diet, but they were happy with this, for they were keeping God’s law.
Sometimes in our Christian lives we need to purpose clearly in our heart to avoid something that would defile us. We are not restricted as to what we eat as Christians, but there are other things that we may be tempted to do that would defile us. If our hearts are really right with the Lord, we will want to avoid what would not please Him, no matter what it may cost us.
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