“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 6:5).

When David committed his great sin of adultery with Bathsheba and sent her husband Uriah to death in battle, the prophet, Nathan, severely rebuked him with these words: “By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme” (II Samuel 12:14).

It was not so with Daniel. He was a consistently righteous man (Ezekiel 14:14,20), loving God and believing His word, and obeying His commandments in every area of his life, even his personal, private habits. Therefore the enemies of God had no “occasion” to attack his deeds or character. He was vulnerable only because of his obedience to the law of his God, and it was only on this basis that they could entrap him and throw him to the lions.

Nor was it true with Paul, who could only be executed because he refused to acknowledge the Roman emperor as God—not because of any sin in his practice or any crime against society. Christ Himself who never sinned, was crucified for claiming to be the Son of God.

This is our standard. If we must be vulnerable, let it be because of our love for the Lord and obedience to His word—not because of careless living as professing Christians. “Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (I Peter 4:15,16). Let the unbelievers object that we love the Lord too much, or believe His word too literally, or take His commandments too seriously, but never let them find an occasion against our Lord because of our unethical behavior or careless talk or complaining attitude, or any other such Christian inconsistency. HMM