Most of my friends aren’t Christians. They swear and curse and do other stuff that I don’t do. They don’t make fun of me or anything, but sometimes I feel strange . . . you know, just different. They’re not troublemakers or anything. Is it so bad to try to fit in?
Christopher
Dear Christopher,
You may feel different, but it sounds like you’re well liked. Your friends include you when they do things and they don’t make fun of you for your beliefs.
Take a look at Daniel. He was probably a teenager when he and some other guys were taken away from Judah. The young captives were given food and drink from the king’s table. But Daniel did not want to eat foods that God had told his people were unclean. He went to an official and asked for vegetables and water for himself and his three friends.
To some perhaps that sounded like a strange request. Daniel asked for a ten-day trial period. If after ten days they didn’t look as healthy as the other young men, they would eat as the others did. After the ten days, “They looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food . . . To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding . . . And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds” (Daniel 1:15, 17).
You may feel a little weird, but when you honor God with your obedience, he honors you with blessing.
Jordan
Your convictions can be a hard thing to stick to at times. You can witness, but you can’t tell whether the person you speak to will listen or laugh. You can say no when friends urge you to do something wrong, but you don’t know whether they’ll respect you or make fun of you. When threatened with death Daniel’s three friends said, “The God we serve is able to save us . . . But even if he does not . . . we will not serve your gods.” When you face a tough decision, you know that God is able to make things turn out right, but you never know for sure that he will. That’s what faith is all about: being determined to do what is right, no matter what.
Pick a candidate for the person you know who’s “least likely to become a Christian.” Got him or her in mind? Then compare that person with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. That ruler was master of his world, an emperor whose word was law throughout the Middle East. He didn’t believe in God. And he didn’t feel any need for God. But read these verses, and you discover that Nebuchadnezzar did come to know and worship the Lord through Daniel’s faithful witness and a personal tragedy. Don’t give up, even on that person “least likely to become a Christian.” You and God together may reach him or her after all!
The Bible doesn’t say a lot about angels. But read Daniel 10:1–14, and notice these fascinating things about angels:
• The angels of God and the angels of Satan battle each other in an invisible war.
• Angels seem to have rank. Daniel’s “major” angel was stopped by an enemy “colonel” angel, until “general” Michael appeared.
• Satan assigns angels to nations. The angel assigned to Persia is called “the prince of the Persian kingdom.”
Most people are curious about angels and would like to know more. But the Bible focuses on things that are more important for human beings, like how to trust God and live in ways that please him. You’ll learn all you need to know about angels when you get to heaven.
“in the resurrection of the body”
The first specific teaching on the resurrection of the body is found in Daniel 12:2. There the Bible says that those who “sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
It’s much clearer in the New Testament, where we’re promised that when Jesus returns believers will be raised from the dead to meet Jesus in the air and will “be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).
Of course, the thing we want to know is what our resurrection bodies will look like. Will people still have zits? Will hair be curly or straight? Will people have all different heights and weights?
Even though those questions aren’t answered directly, the Bible tells us a lot about our resurrection bodies in 1 Corinthians 15. Our bodies will be “raised in glory” and our weaknesses will be replaced with “power” (verse 43). And the best news of all is that our resurrection bodies will “bear the image of the heavenly man.”
You can be sure the resurrection body of Jesus was the best that God could possibly invent. And your resurrection body will be like his—the best God can possibly provide!
The New Testament teaches a resurrection, but what about the Old Testament? Did people then know that they would live again? They did if they believed the Scriptures:
• God will “swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8).
• “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise” (Isaiah 26:19).
• “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).
Old Testament passages don’t speak about a resurrection as much as the New Testament—but the entire Bible tells about one God, who has always loved human beings and who has always planned that people who live by faith will live forever with him.
Daniel
Convictions.
Daniel was a teenager, a hostage in Babylon, when he had to decide: Would he stand up for what he believed in? Daniel was loyal to God and God saved him.