Doing What is Right

“However, I have heard about you that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around your neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.” Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription for the king and make the interpretation known to him.” Daniel 5:16-17 HCSB

The Fresno Bee reports: Joe Cornell could have yielded to temptation when he found a bag full of money in downtown Fresno. He didn’t, and it’s paying off for him.

Cornell found a bag with about $125,000 that had fallen off a Brinks armored car in downtown Fresno. Keep it or return it? He decided on the latter course, and now Brinks officials say they’ll give Cornell a $5,000 reward. “It was the right thing to do,” Cornell said. Brinks officials are breathing a sigh of relief. “Mr. Cornell did the right thing,” Brinks spokesman Ed Cunningham said. “For that, we are grateful.” Brinks also will donate $5,000 in Cornell’s name to the local Salvation Army, where Joe works and is a part of a drug and alcohol abuse program.

There are times when we all are faced with the decision to do what is right. Daniel had the opportunity to “cash in” on his God-given ability to interpret dreams, visions, and the writing on the wall. Obviously, the king had already sought an interpretation from his own counselors and they could not provide him with an answer. The king then turned to Daniel and offered him purple clothes, a symbol of royalty and power, and a gold chain that was only worn by those recognized by the king as a person of rank. Daniel could have had it all and been third in charge of Babylon, but he refused the king’s gifts, not as a way of being disrespectful, but as a way to do what was right rather than do something for personal gain.

Challenge: Doing what is right should always be our first priority over gaining power and financial reward. Do you love God enough to do what is right even if it means giving up personal reward and gain?

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