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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’s so much there to encourage us in our lives today.
As you read his story, you will see that:
- Daniel’s greatest testimony was his work habits and dedication to doing his job right.
Daniel got a promotion from Darius, new king of Babylon, and was made one of three administrators over all the satraps. We read, “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” (Daniel 6:3). This caused much jealousy among the satraps, so they set out 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 take a look at what comes under the heading of corrupt:
Being guilty of dishonest practices like
- cheating on the expense account,
- using company assets for your own benefit,
- disloyal to your employer,
- giving reports that exaggerate the good and overlook the bad,
to name a few.
And even if we pass the corrupt test, here comes “never negligent.”
- You mean, never neglecting to do what you’re supposed to do? Never?
- Always giving it all you’ve got? Always?
- Never failing to fulfill promises and follow-up as required? Never?
- 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 to hang him with, they could find nothing. Daniel must have slept well at night!
Do you see why Daniel gives us such a great role model of a Christian working in the secular workplace?
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