Eat Your Veggies

Jan. 31

Read: Daniel 1; Focus on 4-16

Eat Your Veggies

The tactic of the enemy always begins with the proverbial “kings food”. Look at who Nebuchadnezzar targets. He begins by tasking his chief eunuch to gather the “…royal family…nobles, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, (and) understanding learning…” (v.3,4) In short, the rich, powerful, smart, and good-looking. This is the narrative - “all the pretty people, all the smart people, all the influential people” are doing it. The enemy particularly wants to target these “influencers”. When these people are gathered, they are given the “kings food” while they are indoctrinated with the culture of the conquering empire. (v.4,5) Nebuchadnezzar understands that you want people fat and happy -“full stomachs and full of wine” - before you begin to try and absorb them into your culture, values, and religion. They were going to spend 3 YEARS grooming these “influencers” to serve the king who had conquered them.

This is truly how Satan works: he promises the decadence of the “kings food” as he seeks to convince us to be absorbed into his “culture”- the very culture and way of life belonging to the one who has come to conquer and destroy us! This comfort - the decadent food and wine of king Nebuchadnezzar - held no sway over Daniel. Daniel understood that the pleasures of the “kings food” were fleeting and in the end they would compromise his integrity:

“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank.” (v.8) The people of God see through the cheap trick of stuffing us full of junk food (extravagant food) and filling us up with wine. It is not the food itself that is a problem as much as it is what is represents and how it is being used to manipulate and control the people. God’s people need to have enough resolve to say no the the enemy king’s food when it is offered to us. We must not “defile” ourselves or give in to the indoctrination of a culture built around the enemies values and narrative. It will look appetizing on the front end, no doubt, but when it is all said and done there is no lasting life in allowing yourself to be absorbed into the pagan culture that has sought to take you captive.

God will grant favor to those who are brave enough to stand their ground and trust the Lord. We see this here in Daniel: “Therefore (Daniel) asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs…” (v.8,9) No matter how appetizing it looks, as the people of God we cannot feast on the meal of the devil. The enemy will entice us with opportunities that look a whole lot more like a “kings meal” then some sort of dark and brooding evil scheme. The devil always masquerades as an angel of light and his schemes are designed to look appetizing and good. He promises royalty, nobility, power, prestige, influence, and the like… even though his greatest intention is to destroy. (cf. John 10:10, and Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.)

What are you and I feasting on? What are we feeding ourselves? Would we… could we… say no to the meal put in front of us if we knew it would “defile” us? It has always been a challenge for the people of God to resist being absorbed into the culture of the enemy. There is a constant parade of the “royals, nobles, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge and understanding…” infant of us glamorizing the culture of the one who seeks to conquer. We need the courage, strength, and fortitude to say NO to what will defile us and trust that God will nourish us no matter what! For today, ask the Lord to open your eyes to what you are “eating” … consuming… and WHO you are allowing to guide you. Are you overly swayed by celebrity endorsements or the narrative of the power brokers? Are you drunk on the “kings wine” and slowly buying into the “reprogramming”. Do you even realize that you are a part of a proverbial “3 year campaign” to teach you a different language and culture so that you can serve a foreign, conquering, culture and king? It is time to say “no” and bravely lean into the “favor” that God shows to those who do not defile themselves. Love you guys, more to come from this story. - JDP