12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” (Daniel 1:12, 13)
Daniel and his three friends were chosen because they fit a certain physical profile. When they were brought to the service of the king a decree was given for them to be educated, fed, and trained. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance expands the meaning of the word to mean “to be made strong or nourished in body, mind, and estate.” No doubt Daniel and his friends took to the physical aspect of the training because after the three years in training they were brought before the kind and he found none like them in all his kingdom.
In the verses above we see Daniel and his friends refusing the indulgence of the king’s table. They asked to be fed vegetables and water. There is a modern-day trend towards a cleaner and a more nutritious plant-based diet. This is obviously what Daniel and the three were being fed. Daniel was sure that this was better for him than the choice foods of Babylon.
Too many of us today are not willing to deny our appetites so we can improve our health and like Daniel our appearance. Daniel 1:15 records “At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” They is a need for us to be very practical about how we treat the temple of God. God is living in our bodies. Are we giving him the best place to live?
- Start small: We often fail in our resolutions to exercise because we start too big. Before you get a gym membership go for a walk around the office building or from one end of your street to the next. Starting small and growing the regime incrementally is more fruitful that a big start that ends soon after.
- Minimize your portions: Maybe we shouldn’t try to make drastic changes to our meals, but a slight reduction in our portions and over time we will be able to achieve the goals we desire.
Newly Released Book
Practical ways to dwell in God’s presence as a believer.
Take the journey alongside Dr. Vida-Lynn Asare as she helps believers who desire to know God more deeply. In Earnest Pursuit of His Presence is a heart-warming and thought-provoking book that will teach and inspire you to walk continuously IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
Stories About Mama
Embracing Her Legacy, Honoring Her Life
Contributing author: Stories About Mama is a compilation of narratives from ten authors whose mothers were born within a 30-year span (1924 – 1954), smack dab in the middle of the Jim Crow era (1896-1954) a time when many African Americans, women included, were sharecroppers.
Far too many Black women have never purposely engaged in healing; seeking to understand our mothers in full context of the time and seasons of life. This book is about the healing of Black women from the wounds we have regarding our mothers. To provide a gracious space to look beyond the pain and the shame of their mother’s stories and honor her by seeing her through the lens of grace and glory.
