Purposed

God calls us to be faithful in the here and now. Daniel was a Jew taken captive by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. God blessed Daniel with wisdom and understanding so that Daniel was "ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom." [Daniel 1]. Because of Daniel's God-given ability to interpret the king's dreams, the king ultimately "placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him" and "made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men." [Daniel 2]. Daniel 5:11 states that "Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners." As Chief of the Magi, Daniel was able to teach the Magi what signs to look for to know when Christ would come. More than five hundred years later, the Magi traveled over a thousand miles from the east to Jerusalem, searching for Jesus, saying "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” [Matt. 2]. The Magi were known as "king makers." They understood the significance of the star. And now they were coming to worship Christ as king. The Magi were Gentiles, not Jews. Daniel's faithfulness to God during the Babylonian exile resulted in the recognition of Christ's deity and worship by people outside of God's original covenant community. Let us be faithful in our work as well -- comforted that we only have to sow seeds, but God is the one who gives the growth. [1 Cor. 3].

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