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| STORY TIME
with Aunt Jo! Daniel and the Lion's Den
Do you like to visit the zoo? I do! Which animals do you like best? I like the monkeys. They are so funny!  When I lived in Malaysia, however, I didn't like them so much. You see there are many wild monkeys there -- thousands of them. We would buy a bag of peanuts to feed the monkeys in the cages, and the wild ones would come and try to grab the bag away from us. We were sitting at a table, drinking a coke, when one monkey came and jumped on an empty chair at the table -- and knocked my cocacola over -- so he could sip up the drink from the table! Worse, one monkey actually tried to climb up my dress! I found out later that you must never stare straight into the eyes of monkeys, or they become angry -- and he was! Do you like lions? So much that you would go inside a cage with them. I hope not! But Daniel had an experience something like that. And the lions were hungry too! You see there were some men who were very jealous of Daniel, because God blessed him so much, and he became the chief of three presidents. They went before the king with flattering words, "Oh King, we want you to pass a law so that we can honor you. The law is that no person can make a prayer to any God or man except you for thirty days. The king was so happy that people wanted to honor him, that he forgot all about Daniel, who was always faithful to pray to His God three times a day. He signed the law -- and it was a law that could not be changed. Daniel heard about the law, but never changed his habit. He prayed three times a day in front of his window, as before. The men were happy to report the matter to the king, who sorrowfully commanded that Daniel be thrown into the den of hungry lions -- which was a part of the law that had been signed. That night the men could not sleep. His musicians came, but he still could not sleep. Early in the morning, he walked over to the den and called, "O Daniel, Was your God whom you serve faithfully able to deliver you from the mouth of the lions?" He waited breathlessly, but he didn't have to wait long. He heard Daniel cry out, "O King, live forever, because my heart is right with God, God has sent His angel and shut the lions mouth." This story is found in the book of Daniel, Chapter Three.  Unless we live in a jungle where lions roam about, we don't have to worry about real lions. But there is another lion that we must be concerned about. The Bible says, "Be sober, be vigilant (watchful, on guard), because your adversary (enemy) the devil, as a roaring (hungry) lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8). If we give our lives to Jesus, we do not have to be worried about Satan (the devil). Jesus will give us power to defeat him, and His angels will protect us.Return to Children's Chapel |