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Day 3 - Those Who Know Their God

The book of Daniel tells us, “…the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (11:32). The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an exploit is “a notable or heroic act.” I get excited about carrying out notable or heroic acts for God, don’t you?

Notice it doesn’t say that the people who are super spiritual, or attend every church service, or are strong in themselves will do great exploits. No, it’s the people who know their God. Apparently, we can get close enough to God to know Him and to do notable and heroic acts by Him. That sounds like good news to me.

And Daniel knew what he was talking about. He was just a young man when he and the Israelites were taken captive from their homeland to the nation of Babylon and forced to assimilate to a heathen culture. When he and his friends risked their lives by standing up to the king and refusing to eat food that God had outlawed, they ended up looking healthier than anyone else, and they were granted more wisdom than anyone in the kingdom (see Daniel 1:1-20).

When they refused to bow down to an idol and were thrown into a fiery furnace as a result, God rescued them and they didn’t even smell like smoke afterward (see Daniel 3:8-27). In his later life, when Daniel refused to stop praying to God three times a day and was thrown into a den of man-eating lions, God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that Daniel was completely unharmed (see Daniel 6:1-28).

All of these notable and heroic acts happened because Daniel knew his God. All through the book of Daniel we see him praying and obeying. He showed us a life of closeness to God, consecrated to knowing Him, and the results were great exploits!

I say, let’s get closer and closer to God—let’s get to know Him better and better and do some great exploits of our own that bring Him glory and set people free.