Faithful Servant - Joyce Kiefer

Daniel 6:4 says, Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.  

What does the word faithful, or faithfulness mean to you?  To me it means to be loyal, constant, and steadfast.  Daniel was all of these and more.  He was loyal to His God, he was constant, and he was steadfast. The princes and presidents tried to find something to accuse him of but couldn’t. All they could say is that he was faithful. 

We have been studying the book of Daniel on Wednesday nights at church.  When we came to chapter 6, verse 4 really stuck out to me when it said that Daniel was faithful.  I started thinking about what that really meant and realized what Daniel believed was what he was to stand by—no matter what. 

Even before the decree came down from Darius; Daniel already had purposed in his heart that he would remain faithful. He did not wait until after the decree, he decided before the decree.  It was a constant in his life. Praying 3 times a day to his God was something he did before the decree and more importantly, after the decree.  In other words, he was faithful to God.  Plain and simple.  He did not need to decide what he was going to do with the decree, he already knew what he was going to do.  His boundaries were already drawn when he went to the strange land.  This was nothing new to him. It was his way of life.  

It really made me think as to how faithful I am to what I know is right to do. I certainly have fallen short many times in my life. Then I thought about the Hall of Fame of Faithful servants of God in Hebrews chapter 11. Take some time and read that chapter. It is an amazing account of Old Testament Christians that were faithful.  

Enoch was translated by faith not to see death because he had this testimony, that pleased God.  Do we please God with our lives? God says that it is impossible to please God without faith.  Read verse 6 and let it sink in – it’s impossible.  In other words, if we do not have faith, we are not going to please God.  

As the day approaches when the Lord comes back to take His own to Heaven, I believe we are going to see a time when our faith is really going to be tested.  Where are we going to stand? It all boils down to deciding, as Daniel did, whether we are going to stand faithful to God. Let’s decide now that we are going to be faithful to God. If we want to please God, we must be faithful.  May it be said of us that we were found faithful. I want to strive to live my life so as to hear the Lord say one day, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.