“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.” – Isaiah 54:4
Over the next several weeks, we are going to be diving into the left side of the Bible, and we are going to look at several characters in the Old Testament. These characters were normal people on planet earth just like us. Yet God recorded their stories so that we could learn from their lives and hopefully become more like Him as a result.
The first character we are going to look at is a young man named Daniel. Daniel’s name literally meant, “God is my judge.” When he would introduce himself, people would ask, “Who are you?” and he would respond, my name is Daniel — God is my judge.
For Daniel, his name was much more than just a name. It was a way of life. He lived for God. He lived courageously for God. When you dive deeper into the life of Daniel, you see that his life not only shows you HOW to live courageously, but it shows you WHY you should live courageously.
At the time of exile, Daniel was around 15 years old. You can imagine that a transition like this one would have been extremely intimidating for any teenager in his position. Most teenagers would have probably just fallen into line and given into the temptation of turning away from God and worshipping the false god of the Babylonians, but that wasn’t the case for Daniel and his friends.
Instead, they chose courage. Why? Because they were committed to being faithful to God. And if you want to be faithful to God, courage is required. Courage is required for the one that is committed to God.
Are you committed to God? Many believers will say they are committed to God, and they want to pursue His will and His purpose for their lives. But when it comes time to act courageously and prove it, they are nowhere to be found. Are you ready to be courageous? If you are committed to Him, at some point He will require you to be courageous. Are you ready for that moment?