But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (ESV)

The Babylonian empire has been conquering nation after nation, and their latest is Israel. The king of Babylon orders that religious articles be taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to his temple. This move says, “look, my god is better than your god!” With that, he brings Israel’s best and brightest young men to Babylon to make them part of his court, as well. This is another power move: taking all the future leaders of Israel and making them his. He houses them in the best places and gives them the best clothes and food in the land (think Ramen vs Porterhouse), stealing their identity and putting his identity upon them.

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So, here’s Daniel, a stolen teenager from Israel, dumped into this world – a world with all the pleasures that go along with a Babylonian king’s wealth.

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In Daniel 1:5, the king assigns his newly acquired subjects, including Daniel and his friends, food and drink from his own table – this is kind of a big deal. Daniel is now in a world where this food and drink is not just okay, but is a great honor. The king's own food – how many people in that city would have loved to be in that boat!

Daniel immediately sees the bigger picture, even while his friends indulge in this unhealthy culture. But unlike Daniel, I remember being frustrated as a young man by seeing a high school friend sleeping around, not following God’s will for his life, and then discovering an unknown trust fund and buying a brand-new car. Needless to say, I had a moment of confusion with God: “Look, if they can ‘eat the food’ and thrive,” I said to God, “is it so bad?”

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Daniel understood something greater than I did in high school. When assigned the king’s food and drink, Daniel 1:8 reads, “Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.” Defile in Hebrew connotes to pollute or to poison. Where I saw a rule that had to be followed that didn’t seemingly impact my friend’s “success,” Daniel saw an action that, no matter what it looked like to the world, would negatively interfere with his relationship with his God.

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Daniel realized there are things that can hurt relationships when used outside of God’s design. To this point, carbon monoxide is a gas created by something burning inefficiently. It is odorless and colorless. It’s hard to notice, especially when you’re distracted, admiring the nice fireplace it’s coming from. Unseen, carbon monoxide gets into your blood and kicks out the oxygen in your red blood cells, causing you to get sick when you didn’t even know you were getting poisoned.

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There are many things in this world that unknowingly harm us, that pollute and poison our relationship with God. In high school, it was frustrating to see friends seemingly flourish while doing things outside of God’s design. But like a wood stove, beautiful things of his design, like sex, can turn into poisonous carbon monoxide when left unchecked.

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God knows what is healthy for us and what isn’t. A young Daniel knew this, and his choice to preserve his relationship with God as his highest priority continues to bless Daniel for the rest of his life.

Father, you are so good. You love us more than we can know. Father, give us the courage to be like Daniel when we are faced with things that look amazing but will cause a wedge between you and me. I pray that we root out places in our lives where poison has creeped in and start the process of healing. God, we love you and it is in your holy name we pray, amen.