Today's encouragement comes from Daniel 6:3a, where we read these words:
"Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, be-cause an excellent spirit was in him . . . "Daniel was an extraordinarily-gifted man. He had faith, integrity, intelligence, looks, position, honor, and the respect of the earthly king he served. But what is interesting—and we see this as an almost-universal fact—is that his con-temporaries both envied him, and sought to bring him down.
When we find one of these "excellent spirit"-type of Christian churchmen—we should seek to emulate them; and not to destroy them. They are models to us of what we can all be, too. Let us learn to appreciate what God Himself ad-mires; and let us not forget the fate of the enemies of such souls: they—Dan-iel's accusers—ended up being dinner for a bunch of hungry lions(!)
[Puritan quote of the day: "A true saint thinks he can never speak too well of God or too ill of himself.” —Richard Steele, in, "The Character of an Upright Man"]
