It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. – Daniel 6:1-9

Of all the situations Daniel found himself in as a result of his faithfulness and righteousness, this is the first we hear of intentional efforts to hurt him. We don’t know exactly why they made Daniel their enemy, but it is clear that it was not Daniel’s fault (hint: it never is). Because of his faith in God, Daniel again is being set up for destruction, this time by scheming from evil men. This is the beginning of perhaps Daniel’s most famous story, the one where he is thrown into the lion’s den, and I think it is interesting that the setup for this story is decidedly different. With the other situations, Daniel either “fell into” them or deliberately stepped. This is the only one where he is singled out and attacked for his faith.

And this is the one that “almost” kills him. Of course, it doesn’t (as we will see in a forthcoming devotional), but it does show us that a life lived in the Spirit stood Daniel out from the crowd. In this case, the response was certainly not pleasant, but there is still great value in mimicking this attitude of Daniel. If we choose to live our lives in the Spirit, we will stand out as well. Thankfully, that is not as big as a risk in our day and culture. It is, however, a fantastic way to build influence for the Kingdom of God. When He leads our lives, people will notice. And when people notice true, genuine faith in Jesus, lives will be changed. We will most likely suffer in some way as a result, but that is nothing compared to the surpassing glory of knowing Christ our Savior (Philippians 3:8).

Let’s take that risk and stand together in the Spirit. Who’s with me?