Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” for young people and Daniel 1:3-16.

From the version for young people

A wonderful hero and saintly person is going to be our model for Mondays during the season of autumn.  His name is Daniel, probably a teenager.  He is one of the great prophets of God’s people, someone whose whole life, in all he says and does, reflects God’s life. He’s a hero we can love.

Daniel was one of many thousands of Jewish people about six hundred years before Jesus’ birth who were captives living in the land of Babylon.  This ancient land was part of the modern country of Iraq.  Though there were no places or buildings that reminded him of God, his memories of God’s actions on behalf of God’s people were alive by faith inside Daniel.  He knew that God was with him.

In the first episode we find Daniel and three other Hebrew friends selected to become advisors at the royal court of King Nebuchadnezzar. (My goodness, a name with five syllables!)  With all the familiar reminders of God taken away, the four friends firmly decided to be aware of God’s presence by refusing to do what God had forbidden. So when it came time to eat food that was not allowed by God’s people, they just said: “No: we won’t do it!”

Look how the fidelity of Daniel and his friends to God’s ways brought them wisdom and favor with the King!  You too: the closer you live to the ways that God wants in humility and love, the more God’s grace and wisdom will be given to you.  

Here’s an idea. Picture yourself as a fifth person quietly living alongside these four wonderful young men.  They are part of what we call the Communion of Saints.  In Jesus you are one of those saints too!    

The Protection of Fidelity (Original Version)

The year is 605 B.C. The Hebrews are being taken into exile into Babylon, modern day southeast Iraq. The Lord raises up the prophet Daniel in the crisis. This is the account of this one faithful young Hebrew lad, probably a teenager.

Sense the purity of heart in this radiant man, confident in his God, faithful to the details of following the Lord. In a foreign land, these reminders will form sacred boundaries in his heart for adhering to the Lord alone. Recall the fidelity to God of the patriarch Joseph in Egypt. Fidelity and total trust in the Lord brought the Lord’s protection in the favor of the Pharaoh. The same happens for Daniel and the King of Babylon.

What can you do each day to remind you of the divine presence as you live in a world that ignores God?

Daniel 1

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Undefiled by the world. v. 8

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In this season we read the prophet Daniel.

For all the Firestarters in the original version, II recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.