Daniel 6.4 observes, he was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.

Daniel was a trusted official in the Babylonian government. Often he was made the second highest official in the land after the king. He obtained this lofty position because of the three defining character qualities listed in today’s verse.

These qualities were not uncommon at our founding. They were the norm among most of our founding fathers. They were values held in high honor among most people of this country until fairly recently.

They are not values we have seen from the likes of many in our highest government positions or from those currently running for those same positions. These values are characteristic of those who truly fear God. These values are lived among those who believe they will one day kneel before the Almighty Who will judge their deeds and reward them accordingly.

These are values that people who believe in God, and a God Who holds people accountable for their actions, live in order to please this God Who weighs, measures and rewards for all of our actions whether good or bad. The rebel teens of the 1960’s have become the advocates of godlessness occupying positions of power in our current government, education and media institutions.

They have denied the place of God in the school, the city hall and the network television. They have promoted a different set of values that places selfishness above all other values. The product of the ‘me first’ generation has been sixty years of increasing societal chaos and collapse.

The teacher of the values Daniel practiced is the Church. It is the Church that is commanded to make disciples of Jesus by teaching everything He commanded. Jesus’ teachings are God’s Words for He Himself is God in the flesh so that we could see experientially the love of God and know for certain that He is and that He rewards those who earnestly seek to please Him.

The Church must regain its voice. It must insist upon obedience to the ways of God among those who claim to be followers of Jesus. This group would include our current president and the two candidates seeking to replace him.

This group also includes you and me who must also live out these values in the marketplace, the media, the classroom and the political office for we believe that we must all stand before God and give an account of how we lived our lives, don’t we?