Post by Admin on Jul 13, 2017 5:47:17 GMT
The familiar story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den was fun to read for the details that we miss or do not remember from Sunday school. For example, the King obviously had been told about God, at least by Daniel and maybe he had heard stories about Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar, too. The king knew that Daniel’s God could save him, even if he did not know if He would save him. The clear parallel between the jealous co-workers and employees of Daniel’s day with the situations we face today in the world and work place are startling. We asked ourselves if our co-workers would be able to find ways to get us in trouble with our own actions if they wanted to subvert us. Daniel was so blameless that his enemies knew they would have to trump up a situation to get him in trouble.
The circumstances of Daniel’s punishment were interesting because he was not required by the Law to pray to God three times a day, or any times a day. That was his choice because it was part of his close relationship with God. To avoid the punishment, Daniel could have stopped praying for 30 days because the Law did not make it mandatory. Without flaunting his actions, Daniel simply kept up praying because His relationship with God called Him to it, and we thought, that relationship just meant more than any earthly reward or punishment.
In the circle of young people, they spent more time on the issue of how we behave differently in different environments, unlike Daniel. They hypothesized about what it would be like to have Jesus next to them – what would they do – or not do – and how it might feel if He was there for a year, or if he was visible to others, too, as He followed them. What would change in us if that were the case, or what would we want to change if we pretended He was watching (of course, God is watching!)?
The circumstances of Daniel’s punishment were interesting because he was not required by the Law to pray to God three times a day, or any times a day. That was his choice because it was part of his close relationship with God. To avoid the punishment, Daniel could have stopped praying for 30 days because the Law did not make it mandatory. Without flaunting his actions, Daniel simply kept up praying because His relationship with God called Him to it, and we thought, that relationship just meant more than any earthly reward or punishment.
In the circle of young people, they spent more time on the issue of how we behave differently in different environments, unlike Daniel. They hypothesized about what it would be like to have Jesus next to them – what would they do – or not do – and how it might feel if He was there for a year, or if he was visible to others, too, as He followed them. What would change in us if that were the case, or what would we want to change if we pretended He was watching (of course, God is watching!)?