What was it about Daniel? Through at least three major administration changes in Babylon, he kept coming out on top. For the believer, it makes perfect sense. God gave Daniel and his companions favor through these hard and dangerous times for his own purposes. But you have to wonder what this looked like from the perspective of King Darius, the latest king Daniel had to deal with.

From Darius’ point of view, Daniel and his ilk were smart. And they had a great common sense. They made wise decisions and he could depend on them. What Darius had no way of knowing was that the Jews in his newly-conquered kingdom made their decisions within the framework of the Law. This is more important than most people realize. Most of us make life’s decision based on what feels good and looks safe at the moment, with no overriding framework. And that can leave us all over the landscape in our decisions; having no standards, no consistency.

Daniel and the Hebrew children had been brought up on the law of God and it formed the framework for all of life’s decisions. And the biggest thing about this is that the system works. As the psalmist said, Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And it can help you see in the darkest places. We’ll find the story in Daniel, chapter 6.