Daniel Lived by Principle

[Thompson, Darryl]

Daniel Lived by Principle 

     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. Dan. 6:4  

     Daniel was subjected to the severest temptations that can assail
the youth today, yet he was true to the religious instruction received
in early life. He was surrounded with influences calculated to subvert
those who would vacillate between principle and inclination, yet the
Word of God presents him as a faultless character. Daniel dared not
trust to his own moral power. Prayer was to him a necessity. He made God
his strength, and the fear of God was continually before him in all the
transactions of his life. . . . He sought to live in peace with all,
while he was unbending as the lofty cedar wherever principle was
involved. In everything that did not come in collision with his
allegiance to God, he was respectful and obedient to those who had
authority over him. . . .  

     In the experience of Daniel and his companions we have an instance
of the triumph of principle over temptation to indulge the appetite. It
shows us that through religious principle young men may triumph over the
lusts of the flesh, and remain true to God's requirements. . . . What if
Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those heathen
officers, and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion, by eating and
drinking as was customary with the Babylonians? That single instance of
departure from principle would have weakened their sense of right and
their abhorrence of wrong. Indulgence of appetite would have involved
the sacrifice of physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual
power. One wrong step would probably have led to others, until, their
connection with Heaven being severed, they would have been swept away by
temptation.

>From My Life Today - Page 75