By Amanda Bible Williams
Scripture Reading: Daniel 1:1-7, 2 Kings 24:10-17, Hebrews 13:14
I still remember the day my husband called to say goodbye to his beloved Nana. At the age of ninety-four, her body was weary, and the doctors indicated that her time was short. More than that, she could just sense it somehow.
He relayed the conversation to me afterward—how he told her he would miss her and how she said she loved him and called him “Doo-bug,” the name she gave him when he was a baby. I listened, the familiar ache in my chest of knowing that our time here is temporary, though we like to pretend it isn’t. What must it feel like, knowing the transition to heaven is near—to look back over nearly a century of celebration and sorrow, wars and babies, grandchildren and church potlucks and conversations on the front porch? What does success look like from that vantage point? What does it mean to live a faithful life?
In the book of Daniel, we get an overview of one man’s life. This true story begins with Daniel being taken into captivity by the Babylonians who desired to change everything about Daniel, from his name to whom he worshiped. The book recounts Daniel’s roughly seventy years in exile. He would be a prophet, an interpreter of dreams, and a prisoner. He would fast, worship, and pray to the one true God under threat of his life. He would survive a den of hungry lions by Yahweh’s power and presence, and he would prophesy the glory of God’s eternal kingdom. And while we know Daniel was not perfect—he was human, a sinner in need of grace—we’ll get glimpses over these twelve chapters of what it looks like to live a faithful life in exile.
We, too, are exiles in this world, longing for the day when we will live at home in the presence of Christ our King. We are citizens of heaven, but we take up residence here for a time, called to represent God’s image on every stretch of the journey. As we wrestle with what it looks like to live a faithful life, we look past Daniel to the perfection of Jesus Christ. He is our example and our advocate, our just Judge and righteous Ruler.
Long live the King.
Written by Amanda Bible Williams
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