February 27
Daniel's deliverance
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of…the prophets…who through faith…stopped the mouths of lions… Hebrews 11:32-33 (NKJV)
You don't need to be a Bible scholar to understand what's being discussed here in Hebrews. There's only one name that comes to mind when it comes to the mouths of lion: Daniel.
Just about all of us are familiar with the story of Daniel. But what might not be so familiar to us is the role that faith played in Daniel's deliverance. Both here in the New Testament and in the original account in the Old Testament, we're told that faith was the key factor:
So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God. (Daniel 6:23 NKJV)
"He believed in his God." That's what defined Daniel's faith and secured his deliverance. But notice that it says Daniel believed in his God. Daniel didn't have a generic or corporate connection to the Lord. It was personal…intensely personal.
As far as Daniel was concerned, it didn't matter if he was the only person on the planet that was going to follow and honor the God of Israel. For much of his lifetime, it probably seemed like he was, since he was plucked-up and planted in a pagan culture from his teenage years on. But none of that mattered because the God of Israel was his God. It didn't matter where he happened to be. His God was with him wherever he was.
There's always going to be a correlation between the vitality of our faith and our perspective of God. If we view our connection with Him in terms that aren't personal, if it's based on tradition or another person's example, then our faith is going to falter. But it's when we say that Almighty God is my God that our faith becomes a means of deliverance from the proverbial lion's den.
Think About It…
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
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