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D-7825
Would you have ever guessed that a man from the Old Testament could offer us a godly role model for Christians in the marketplace today? If you haven’t read the book of Daniel lately, I encourage you to do so, because there are so many great applications for us today.
- Daniel’s greatest testimony was his work habits and dedication to doing his job well.
Daniel got a promotion from Darius, the new king of Babylon, becoming one of three administrators over all the satraps. We read in Daniel 6:3, “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” This caused much jealousy among the satraps, so they attempted to find something against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so:
They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (Daniel 6:4b).
What a testimony: neither corrupt nor negligent! I never really think of myself as corrupt, do you? Yet let’s take a look at what comes under the heading of “corrupt”: guilty of dishonest practices. This would include behaviors like cheating on the expense account, using company assets for your own benefit, disloyalty to your employer, giving reports that exaggerate the good and overlook the bad . . . just to name a few.
And even if we pass the corrupt test, here comes “never negligent”: never neglecting to do what you’re supposed to do; never failing to give it all you’ve got; never falling short of fulfilling promises and follow-up as required; never overlooking the stuff you hate to do and leaving it undone. Never??
I’m guilty! I wouldn’t want my work habits to be as closely scrutinized as Daniel’s were. With all those satraps looking for something with which to hang him, they found absolutely nothing. Daniel must have slept well at night!
I trust that you now understand why Daniel gives us such a great role model of a Christian working in the secular workplace!
