After finishing Daniel, I was struck by a revelation. Probably, throughout Danielís lifetime, the people he lived for, were sinful, misguided people. I donít think any of the people except for Daniel and his three buddies lived for God. They probably forgot about Him or even grumbled about Him because of their exile from their homeland. But time and again, we see that God not only spared Daniel but his people too because of Danielís righteousness. Daniel truly was Judahís savior. He served as the priest in an unknown land, begging God for the forgiveness of not only his own sins but for the sins of his people. Much like how Christ was and is the savior of all who come under His lordship.
Over and over again, in church weíre told and taught to be more and more like Jesus. The problem is that we really donít know what that means. Itís even become such a clichÈ that we donít even stop to think what ìbe more like Jesusî means. Itís become this nebulous thing, a goal or aspiration that we say we desire knowing that itís good, without knowing what it really is. Itís kind of like the mystery prize behind door #1 in some game show. We know that whatever it is, itís gonna be really good. The problem is that ìbe more like Jesusî isnít a prize or goal thatís as easy as saying ìIím gonna take whatís behind door #1.î We have to work towards it with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And itís a near impossibility to realize a goal that we have no comprehension of, when we have to work toward it. Put differently, itís virtually impossible to work toward a goal without knowing what the goal is.
Anyway, here is Daniel. He is being like Jesus, as we are taught in church. And here is one part of Daniel being like Jesus. Daniel is intercessing for his fellow people. Those of us in full time ministry service seem to constantly complain or grumble about the lack of committed people we have in the church. If only we had a few more people who were committed to following and serving Christ, THEN we could make an impact on this community. If only we had a few more people who were committed to following and serving Christ, THEN we would be able to reach more people. Numerically this makes sense. Spiritually, this isnít necessarily the case.
A single righteous man in prayer for himself and his people alone, saved thousands maybe millions of people from sure destruction and death. One man. And so, for those of us in ministry service, after seeing the example set by Daniel, are forced to asking ourselves a single question: Am I going to be that one man for the people under my care? Forget discipleship, forget imparting wisdom, forget recruiting, forget ministry strategies. Theyíre all very good, and wise ministry leaders would also incorporate them. But they are all secondary. There really is power in a single praying righteous man. Daniel is an example of that.