June 23.
Envy, An Evil Enemy

Daniel 6:5

Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Daniel was put in charge of the three presidents who were over the kingdom of Darius. Daniel’s position was the same as that of a Prime Minister. Now people have a serious problem when you get promoted, especially when you are promoted over them. So when Daniel received his promotion, his enemies started gathering. They searched to find fault with Daniel. But his enemies could find no fault. Now that’s rare. You don’t have to be my enemy to find fault with me. I’ve made so many mistakes until I’m really a mistake myself. I’ve heard people say, “I’m not ashamed of nothing I’ve done.” Not me, I’m ashamed of everything I’ve done. The only thing I’m not ashamed of is the gospel. Thank God I’m serving a God that knows how to take his spiritual eraser and erase my past and straighten it up for the present and walk with me through the future.

But Daniel’s enemies, driven by envy, determined to cause trouble for Daniel. Since they could find no fault in him, they hired private investigators to watch his habits in order to make up something against him. They began to notice that every morning before he got ready to go to work, he would raise the window in the direction of Jerusalem and kneel down and pray. At lunch, he did the same thing. In the evening when he got home, he raised the window, knelt down, and prayed. They said, “We’ve got him.” because they knew that the King was lifted in pride. They put together a devious plan in the form of a law that people would have to bow down to the king and no other for thirty days. If a person disobeyed, he would be thrown into the lion’s den. They convinced Darius to sign the decree. However, this envy would be their own enemy in the end.