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No Compromise, August 30
Daniel 1:17-21
Them that honour me, I will honour.
1 Samuel 2:30
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In the experience of Daniel and his companions we have an instance of
the triumph of principle over temptation to indulge the appetite. It shows us
that through religious principle young men may triumph over the lusts of the
flesh, and remain true to God’s requirements, even though it costs them a great
sacrifice.
What if Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those
heathen officers, and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion, by eating
and drinking as was customary with the Babylonians? That single instance of
departure from principle would have weakened their sense of right and their
abhorrence of wrong. Indulgence of appetite would have invoked the sacrifice of
physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. One wrong step would
probably have led to others, until, their connection with Heaven being severed,
they would have been swept away by temptation....
While Daniel clung to his God with unwavering trust, the spirit of prophetic
power came upon him. While he was instructed of man in the duties of court
life, he was taught of God to read the mysteries of future ages, and to present to
coming generations, through figures and similitudes, the wonderful things that
would come to pass in the last days
God designed that man should be constantly improving, daily reaching a
higher point in the scale of excellence. He will help us, if we seek to help
ourselves. Our hope of happiness in two worlds depends upon our improvement
in one. At every point we should be guarded against the first approach to
intemperance.
Dear youth, God calls upon you to do a work which through His grace you
can do.... Show a purity of tastes, appetite, and habits that bears comparison with
Daniel’s. God will reward you with calm nerves, a clear brain, an unimpaired
judgment, keen perceptions. The youth of today whose principles are firm and
unwavering, will be blessed with health of body, mind, and soul
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49
The Youth’s Instructor, June 25, 1903
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50
The Youth’s Instructor, July 9, 1903
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