This is Just a Test!

Daniel 1:12 & 15
Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink…at the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

Fasting without prayer is just a diet. I have to believe that Daniel and his friends did more than just change their diet. They were put to a test because they knew that what they were being offered might offend their God. Have you ever been offered something that could offend God if you ate it? Participate in it? Or consumed it? Sometimes, you have to pull away from what’s being offered even when it comes from the King’s table. Everything that looks good ain’t good for you. The biggest test is when somebody offers you something that looks good but you will have to turn it down for what God has for you. The test is that what you turn down is going to taste better short term but what you gain from God will taste better long term. This is just a test!
Why did Daniel and his three friends ask to be tested?

1. The King’s menu didn’t match his value. Was he looking for a “value meal?” No, he knew that the King’s food went against dietary restrictions that God had given them through Moses. Sometimes, we are so glad to be sitting around the King’s table that we forget our values. Don’t be so eager for promotion that you leave your values and faith behind.

     2. His Conscious didn’t match his context. Sometimes, we live by the rule, “When in Rome do as
         the Romans do.” But when your conscious sends you a message that something is wrong you
         should listen. I Corinthians 10: 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat
         whatever is put before you(AL) without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says
         to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who
         told you and for the sake of conscience

      3. His heart didn’t match his hunger. When you have a heart for God you just lose your appetite
          for things that don’t bring God glory. If you really love God he will change your appetite for
          things that are detrimental to your spiritual well being. John 4: 31 Meanwhile, his disciples
          urged him, “Rabbi,(AC) eat something.”32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat(AD) that
          you know nothing about.”33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have
          brought him food?”34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will(AE) of him who sent me and to
          finish his work.

Daniel asked for an alternative diet that we call the “Daniel fast,” vegetables and water for ten days. When they came back to compare Daniel and his three friends they were ten times better than everybody else. God gave them knowledge, understanding, and the ability to understand visions and dreams.

Here’s your test, what are willing to give up so that God can give you more?

Dear God,

Help me to give up my choice for your good. Fasting is not something I have to do it’s something I choose to do. What others offer me does not compare to what you can give. Father increase my understanding, my knowledge, and help me with my vision.

In Jesus Name,

Amen