Daily Devotion

Read: Daniel 1:1–21

Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe. Daniel 1:12–13 

In captivity in Babylon, Daniel was chosen to be a member of the king’s court. That position afforded him and a few of his friends the opportunity to feast from the king’s table. That would have been a dream come true for any of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. But Daniel knew that by accepting the royal ration of food, he would be placing himself under the authority of the king, and the food itself would fatten him in unhealthy ways. Daniel believed that abstaining from excessive food would strengthen his soul and safeguard his health. Self-discipline in the face of great excess would be his way to salvation.