READING: Ezekiel 48, Daniel 1-2
I live in a world where achievement matters. All around me are professors who write to be published, students who want to graduate, and graduates who want the best jobs. It’s almost inevitable that we too often rely on our own strength and our own training rather than lean on God. After all, we’ve paid the price of further training and have done well enough to see at least some fruit for our efforts. Nobody wants to do less than his or her best—and it’s too easy to depend on self rather than God.
On the other hand, today’s word from the book of Daniel reminds us just how dependent we are on God for us to accomplish anything. Daniel was obviously a gifted man, but the text takes us in another direction to see the source of Daniel’s victories:
- “God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch” (Dan 1:9, emphasis added)
- “God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom” (Dan 1:17, emphasis added)
- “. . . there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days” (Dan 2:28, emphasis added)
Daniel is a reminder for us that God is the source of our victories and blessings—we are not. I need to remember this truth today.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: What has God granted you already today for which He alone should get the glory?
PRAYER: “Remind me, Father, that we can accomplish nothing apart from You.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Ezekiel 48, Daniel 1-2
