If I asked you to name your least favorite food, many of you might choose a vegetable. Pickles and olives top my list. Yuck! As a child, I thought broccoli was the most disgusting food known to man. Our 41st president, George Bush, famously said, “I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid. And my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!”
The prophet Daniel had a different view of vegetables. His issue wasn’t that he disliked vegetables; he actually requested them. Daniel was a Jewish exile living in Babylon, surrounded by a culture very different from his own. Babylon was trying to reshape young men like Daniel from the outside in — with new language, education, names, and food. But Daniel remembered who he was: He belonged to the Lord.
Daniel respectfully asked the chief eunuch for permission to eat vegetables and drink water instead of the king’s food. He didn’t demand. He didn’t attack Babylonian culture. He simply stood firmly on his convictions while maintaining a gracious posture.
Daniel was respectful, principled, and reasonable. And God blessed his faithfulness. After ten days, Daniel and his friends appeared healthier than those eating the king’s food.
But Scripture makes clear that Daniel’s success wasn’t ultimately because he was persuasive or because vegetables are superior to meat. “God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.” (Daniel 1:9)
That’s an important lesson for us. We can be respectful, kind, and faithful, but we cannot control how others respond to us. Sometimes we do everything right and still get the door slammed in our face. When someone responds favorably to us, we should recognize it for what it is: a gift from God.
And we have received an even greater favor. Through Jesus, we have God’s favor—not because we have earned it, but because Christ has given us His righteousness. In Him, God looks upon us with grace.
So stand firm in your faith. Be respectful. Be principled. Be reasonable. And when God gives you favor in the eyes of another person, receive it gratefully as His gift.
Faithfulness is our calling; favor is God’s gift.
This article adapts a sermon preached August 15/16. Text: Daniel 1:8–16.
Pastor Chris Kennedy 