At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. Daniel 1:15
How much do you care about your car? For most men, the answer to this question will range from one end of the following responses to the other: “I take care of my car . . . scheduled maintenance on the engine and regular washings when it’s really dirty,” to “I love my car. It gets parked at the far end of every parking lot so no one can come close to it. A door ding would be the end of me. My best friend is my mechanic, and no, you can’t have his number.”
For many men, their car or truck is more than just transportation. Even if it isn’t the latest model, they take a certain level of pride in what they drive. And they know that there will always be a direct relationship between what happens to the engine and the car’s long-term reliability.
Babylon had captured the Jews. The king of Babylon had asked that some of the brightest, strongest, and most handsome young men be transported to his royal digs for indoctrination into the ways of his people. Daniel and his three friends were among the recruits.
But when these four men got to the training table and saw what the king’s chefs were going to be feeding them, they signaled for the maître d’, asking for a different menu. Unfortunately, the steward was afraid to grant Daniel and his friends their wish; however, not to be discouraged, Daniel took another approach. He decided to make a contest out of the royal cuisine issue. He challenged the steward to let the four men eat good, clean food for ten days, allowing all the others to eat the king’s less healthy fare.
Then Daniel challenged the official, after ten days, to “examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food” (v. 13). So the administrator agreed to this plan.
Ten days later, after eating vegetables instead of Twinkies® and barbecued chips like the rest of the troops, Daniel and his three friends were taken before King Neb- uchadnezzar himself for their checkups. “The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah” (v. 19). Daniel had won his contest.
Let’s go back to your car for a minute. What would you say if someone offered to pour a soft drink into your gas tank? What if they suggested putting honey in your transmission? We both know what you’d do. Why? Because your car’s performance has everything to do with what you put into it. What makes you think your body is any different from your car?
Of course, the message of the story about Daniel and his three friends has as much to do with these men’s tender and loyal hearts toward their God as it does their selection of food. But since the subject has come up, is this a good time to reassess your own diet? What are you putting into your body that you ought to cut back on? What’s missing from your training table?
We’ve already established that if you put bad things into your car, it will have an effect on its performance. At the risk of sounding like your mother here, I have an important message for you: your body is no different.