Daniel’s Food

Daniel 1:8-17

Our true story is found in a part of the Bible called Daniel. Daniel was a man that loved God very much and lived in a land called Babylon.

We begin with the king of Babylon, who had a very long name. His name was King Nebuchadnezzar.


King Nebuchadnezzar had a training program because he wanted the people working for him to be the very best. And he chose several guys to be in it. One of those guys was named Daniel.


Daniel loved God and followed Him. Daniel did what God told him to do. Let’s go back to King Nebuchadnezzar. You see, he wanted the people working for him to study so they could learn and learn all these new things.


King Nebuchadnezzar even wanted them to have all the fancy food and drink right from his own table. 
This was a problem for Daniel. Remember, Daniel loved God and followed Him. Back then, God had rules about what His people could eat. That meant Daniel would have to say no to all the fancy food and drink on the king’s table. That meant Daniel would have to say no to the king! And people normally didn’t say no to the king.


But, guess who had the power to help Daniel make the right choice? God! God has the power to help ALL of us make the right choice. And that day, God helped Daniel make the right choice and follow God’s rules. Daniel made the choice to eat only vegetables and drink only water. Daniel told the king’s servant that he didn’t want the king’s food. He only wanted to eat vegetables and drink water.


No one knew what would happen when the servant told the king that Daniel wasn’t eating his food. What do you think the king did? The king said, ‘Okay!’ Wow! God is SO powerful! He helped Daniel make the right choice. And he wants to help us make the right choice, too.


Sometimes, it can be hard to make the right choice. But you can always ask God for help. Here are a few examples. Let’s say you really want to play your uncle’s nice guitar but, you know you’re not allowed to touch it. Can God help you make the right choice and NOT play your uncle’s guitar? Yes, He can. God is powerful, and He will help you make the right choice and leave that guitar alone!


Can you ask God to help you wait when you REALLY want to eat a cookie before dinner? Yes! God is powerful, and He will help you wait to eat that cookie!


Can God help us be excited when our friend gets a new bike, even when we would like to have a new bike? Yes! When we ask God to help us, He will. God is SO powerful. He can help us make the right choice.



Bible Paraphrase: Great is our LORD and mighty in power. —Psalm 147:5, NIV

Text Truth: God’s power helps me make the right choice.



Family Devotional

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. —Daniel 1:8

Our Bible story was about a choice Daniel had to make. He could have chosen to eat the king’s food like everyone else. But Daniel knew the right choice was following God’s rules, which meant he had to choose to eat different food. God’s power helped Daniel make the right choice!

Great is our LORD and mighty in power. —Psalm 147:5, NIV 

Our Bible story had a lot of food in it. So, with your family, make a list of your favorite foods. 

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, Thank You for food and how You use it to make us grow strong. Thank You for foods like (read the list your family made). They are SO good to eat! We also want to thank You for using Your awesome power to help us make right choices. I pray that (say each family member’s name) will always look to You to help them know the right choice to make. We love You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

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Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence.
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