Veggie Medley

So recently I was in a restaurant and ordered a meal that came with Sauteed Veggie Medley.  The veggies were sauteed in butter with a little garlic and white wine.  Yum!  So when my plate arrived, little did I know that this morning, God would use that veggie medley to teach me a life lesson.

While driving to pick up my brother for work this morning (we carpool to the nearby town we both work in), I was thinking about life and how sometimes it isn't all that we wanted....not at all what we ordered during our prayer time.  God reminded me of my veggie medley and how life is much like that plate of sauteed veggies that I was served just a few short days before.  See, when the plate arrived, I was ready to dig in and began to look a bit closer to the contents of my veggie medley.  Cauliflower, broccoli, mushroom, onions, yellow squash, and....garbanzo beans?  Really?  I do not like garbanzo beans, so I began to pick out the thinks that I did not want to ingest.  Isn't that how it is as a Christian?  We are asked to pick off our plate anything that is not "eatable" for our souls.  Just like that veggie medley, I can choose to just dig in and eat whatever is presented by the cook.  To take it ALL in no matter what it is!  On the other hand, I easily can view the plate and decide what I do and do not want to ingest.

As I was driving along this morning, He gently reminded me that just as I am selective in what I will put into my physical body, His desire is that I would be selective and aware of what it is that I so easily accept into my spiritual body.  Oh what hardships I have faced in the past for not being selective in what I partake of in my spiritual life.

In Daniel chapter 1, we read about Daniel's refusal to partake of the choice foods offered by the king.  He refused to eat of this food because the king had blessed it using the names of idols and false Gods.  Although we read that they changed Daniel's name, they couldn't change the fact that God....yes, THE God, was on his side.  Daniel was blessed many times over for his faithful to not partake of all that was placed before him.  This is much the same as being cautious as to what I"eat" in the spiritual sense of the word.

I am thankful today for this simple reminder to partake of only what He places before me....nothing more, nothing less.  For in doing so, i too will be blessed!

Daniel 1

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

Daniel’s Training in Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia^[a] and put in the treasure house of his god.
³ Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility — ⁴ young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.^[b] 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
⁶ Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷ The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
⁸ 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. ⁹ Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, ¹⁰ but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
¹¹ Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,¹² “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” ¹⁴ So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
¹⁷ To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
¹⁸ At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. ²⁰ In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
²¹ And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.