A while ago, I decided to read my Bible cover to cover. As I read through the book of Daniel, I took my time. I want to encourage you with one application I gleaned from Chapters 9 and 10.
In chapter 9 verse 2, He writes, “I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.” I appreciate how he understood God’s Word and believed Jeremiah’s writing to be reliable. He believed that God would keep His Word. What he read he believed. What he believed he applied.
Daniel prayed and confessed and while doing that, the angel Gabriel came to talk to him. The same angel Daniel saw back in Chapter 8. The same angel who would later announce the birth of John the Baptist and the same angel who would announce the birth of Jesus. Daniel said, “He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.” — Daniel 9:22-23
Gabriel made a point to tell Daniel that he came to give him insight and understanding because he was greatly loved. This stood out to me the first time I read it; it really caught my attention when it was said again in Daniel 10:11, “And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” How cool would it be to be known by the Heavenly Host as one who is “Greatly Loved”?
I want to live a life (and encourage you to live a life) like Daniel did. A life where we set our hearts to understand. A life where we humble ourselves before our God. A life where when we pray, our words are heard by God.
He was a special man — one who was set apart and gifted by God to do wonderful things. But, just because you and I are no Daniel, Moses, Joseph, Peter, John or Paul, doesn’t mean we are not special men and women. We, too, are set apart and gifted by God, to do wonderful things. What he read he believed and what he believed he applied. Let’s be men and women who do the same.
Reading, believing and applying,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor