Daniel 1:3-7 – Be alert to compromises in life.

Being brought to Babylon, set the stage for God’s people to experience pressure. Daniel 1:3 says that King Nebuchadnezzar instructed his chief steward, Ashpenaz to select the best of the exile to be groomed for his service. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah belonged to that category and were selected.

Planted in a place away from home would already require major adjustment, now they were forced to learn about another culture. While the purpose was to groom them to serve Babylon, the process required that they change their world view. Here the pressure they faced concerned their worldview. Changing worldview means changing mindsets and perspective.

Worldview matters in a believer’s walk with God. One either derives principles for life and living from the lens of the Word of God or from worldly opinions. The attempt of the Babylonians was to change their godly perspective and orientation.

The next pressure was for them to live a compromising life through pleasures. They were introduced into a life of luxury. The king ordered that they be given rich food, and choice wine. Pleasure and luxury are all lethal temptations that appeal to the flesh. Indulging in them long and often would cultivate a hedonistic lifestyle in a person.

Then they had to face the pressure of the change of their names. Daniel whose name means “God is my judge” was renamed Belteshazzar meaning “May Bel protect his life.” Hananiah whose name means “The LORD is gracious” was changed to Shadrach meaning “Aku is exalted.” Mishael, meaning “Who is what God is” was renamed Meshach meaning, “Who is what Aku is.” And Azariah meaning, “The LORD is my helper” was changed to Abednego meaning, “the servant of Nego.”

Bel, Aku and Nego were all Babylonian gods. Just imagine being addressed by these names daily. They were probably calculated to get them to forget their own God and become familiar with the Babylonian gods.

Pressures of life can do two things in our spiritual journey. They can cause us to compromise on our walk with the Lord or cause us to trust and rely on Him to see us through the pressures. It can result in us giving up our faith or make us stronger and more faithful in our journey with God.

As believers who trust God our goal in life is to become more conformed to the image of God. So, we must take God’s word through Paul in Romans 12:2 seriously. We are not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind to prove what the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for our lives is.