Faithful in a Foreign Land

3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
Daniel 1:3-7
+
Faithful in a Foreign Land
Daniel and his friends were taken from their homeland and placed in the court of a pagan king. Given new names tied to false gods, they faced immense pressure to conform. Yet, their true identity remained rooted in the Lord. Though they lived in Babylon, they belonged to Yahweh. We, too, live in a foreign land. The world demands our conformity, pushing us to abandon Christ and embrace its ways. But our identity is not in worldly names or titles, it is in Christ, who has redeemed us by His blood. Through Baptism, we bear His name, sealed in His cross-shaped love. No matter the pressures we face, our hope is not in the world but in the One who overcame it. Like Daniel and his friends, we remain faithful, not by our strength, but by the grace of our crucified and risen Savior.
Posted in
Posted in

Recent

Archive

 2025

Categories

Tags