An early edition of Big Idea Productions’ “Veggie Tales” included a wonderful rendition of the story of Daniel and the lions’ den. The king’s “wise men”, who were green onions, danced around singing “oh no, what we gonna do? The king likes Daniel more than me and you.” They contrived a plot to trap Daniel, which was a law condemning to “death by lion” anyone caught praying to anyone except King Darius. The Veggie Tales characters shared their agreement by concluding “it’s clever, it’s sneaky, and it just might work!” The plan did work, of course, because Daniel was the type of person who was going to do the right thing regardless of whether it appeared that others would treat him well or poorly. This is so convicting for me. Perhaps it is for you, too. It is very tempting to want to go along.

I recently heard about a behavioral study where the young person being tested was put in a room with a dozen or so peers. The peers had all been clued in and were told how to respond to various situations. The key test was that the group was asked which of two lines was longer. When all the others in the group indicated that the shorter line was actually the longer one, the person who was the target of the test typically caved in to peer pressure and agreed that the shorter line was actually longer. Just imagine how foolish the “target” felt when he/she learned of the study designed to test their ability to make independent, objective decisions and defend them.

Now consider history…can you name any famous “yes” men or women? How did it go for them?

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before.” Daniel 6:10

May God bless you today.

Justin T. Arnot
Executive Director