An Excellent Spirit

An Excellent Spirit

By Apostle Felix

2  And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 
3  Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 
4  Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

Daniel  6: 2 – 4

By the time Daniel was written, the nation of the Jewish people was divided into the tribes of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Assyria conquered Israel in 722 BC. Babylon overthrew Assyria in 612 BC, then Judah in 605 BC. Daniel and others were taken to Babylon and chosen to be trained as royal advisors. The Babylonians took the best of young Jewish men to be trained in Babylonian culture and religion. Daniel and his friends were known as  Belteshazzar, who later became Daniel; Shadrach was Hananiah; Meshach was Mishael; and Abednego was Azariah. The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, wanted to change the young men’s identity and their spiritual allegiance. The next step in changing their identity was to change their diet. The Jewish people had their own diet prescribed by Moses through the Law. They were not allowed to eat certain kinds of food, no matter how delicious they were.

4  Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
5  And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

Daniel 1: 4, 5

The purpose of changing their diet was to harden their conscience against their faith in God. But Daniel and his friends refused to partake of the king’s delicacies despite the consequences. They refused to compromise their faith for the sake of social status. Though they served in the most hostile and corrupt environment, they kept their faith. The environment itself was hostile to the values they stood for. It was an environment that promoted idol worship and all manner of evil practices. But Daniel and his friends understood very well that they were strategically placed in such an environment by God to influence and exert the kingdom values upon it. They understood that they were the light in the midst of darkness.

13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5: 13 – 15

Brothers and sisters, we are not called to go and evangelize the church, but to the world. The world looks like the environment Daniel and his friends found themselves in. They served in one of the most challenging environments, and you probably are working in a workplace that is hostile.  God has not called us to shun the world, but to be the light in the world. We are not called to hide the light from the world but to shine. We are only to shine when we maintain the posture of purity, which is an excellent spirit. An excellent spirit speaks of an outstanding posture of godly values in one’s life. It is an attitude that refuses to succumb to worldly pleasures and stands for righteousness. The problem oftentimes is not the environment, but individuals who would be able to stand and resist compromise.

We are believers in Christ and have what it takes to resist any kind of temptation.  Temptation in itself is not sin, but turns into sin when one gives in to temptation. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tempted but chose not to give in to it because they strongly believed in the God of Israel. And indeed God delivered them from the hands of their enemies and exalted them in the land of captivity. Later the king, Nebuchadnezzar, acknowledged that the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is the true Living God.

28  Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29  Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
30  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 3: 28 – 30