By Pauline Akello
A long time ago, in a faraway land called Babylon, there lived a wise and kind man named Daniel. Daniel loved God very much and always did what was right.
Now, the king of Babylon was a man named King Darius, and he liked Daniel a lot. Daniel was so clever and trustworthy that the king put him in charge of lots of important things in the kingdom! In fact, he was one of the king’s top leaders.
But not everyone was happy about that.
Some of the other officials were jealous. They did not like that Daniel was so respected by the king. So they started looking for a way to get him into trouble. But Daniel was such a good and honest man that they could not find anything wrong with what he did.
Then they had a sneaky idea. They said: “The only way we’ll catch him out is if it has to do with his God!”
So they went to King Darius and tricked him into making a new law: “O great king,” they said, “why not make a rule that for the next thirty days, no one is allowed to pray to anyone—except you. And if they do, they’ll be thrown into the lion’s den!”
The king liked the sound of that (he didn’t realise they were setting a trap), so he agreed and signed the law. Once a law was signed, it could not be changed, not even by the king!
But guess what Daniel did?
He still prayed to God, just like he always did. He went to his room, opened the window facing Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day. He was not trying to show off, he just loved talking to God, and no law was going to stop him.
Well, the sneaky men were watching. As soon as they saw Daniel praying, they ran off to tell the king.
King Darius was very upset. He liked Daniel and did not want him to be hurt. But the law was the law. So with a heavy heart, the king ordered Daniel to be thrown into the den filled with big, hungry lions.
The following morning, the King rushed to the lion’s den and called out: “Daniel! Has your God saved you?”
“Yes, your majesty!” came Daniel’s voice. “God sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths. They didn’t harm me, because I’ve done nothing wrong!”
There wasn’t even a scratch on him!
But the men who had tricked the king were thrown into the lions’ den instead, and the lions ate them.
After all that, King Darius made a big announcement to everyone in his kingdom. “Daniel’s God is the living God,” he said. “He saves and protects His people. Everyone should respect and honour Him!”
And so, Daniel continued to serve in the kingdom, and he stayed faithful to God all his life.
