Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Daniel 1:1-17 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

‘[Daniel] asked the palace master to allow him not to defile himself.’ Daniel 1:8

That part of the Book of Daniel which deals with the story of Daniel and his companions has a simple message to convey: that just as God delivered Daniel, so he would deliver his people now. This message has always resonated with God’s people, and Christians in this modern age are no different. We need to know that God saves and that our faith in that salvation is not in vain. The parallels with our modern age are striking in this passage; the beginning of the Book of Daniel.

The omens here are not good. The Jews are in a tough spot, caught between two more powerful nations, and God does not seem very powerful. The exile that Nebuchadnezzar imposes, is both physical and spiritual. The temple is defiled and the nation ransacked and even the best of the people of Judah are confiscated to serve a powerful king who worships other gods.

Daniel and his friends are taken into the service of this king, and by change of name and diet, amongst other things, would serve, not God, but that king. Even the food, certainly not kosher, was an affront to Daniel’s faith. His response was twofold: to make polite request to the right person – the chief eunuch, and to hold fast to his faith in God. The contrast between humility and power, faith and worldly might, is striking. Daniel’s approach is to say “watch and see”. And God, noticing the faithfulness of the young men, rewards them with knowledge (heavenly knowledge?) and learning of every kind. Time and again in the history of God’s people, the gifts of God are not earthly or material.

And Daniel and his companions provide a lesson to us here and now. Our constant, as Christians, is ultimately God, not any earthly power or construct. We are to deal with this world according to the commands of God and thereby imitate Christ, who is our deliverance from the powers of darkness and the looked for salvation promised by God. We are especially fortunate to know God’s salvation has arrived and so we rejoice.

Let us pray: Lord, help us to serve you faithfully regardless of what the world would have us do, and to choose You above everything else. Amen.

The Revd Graham Buttery, Vicar, St Paul’s, Adlington.