1 Timothy 4

In this chapter Paul puts forward the idea of being a "good servant of Christ Jesus." How does one become a good servant? By being "trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed" (vs 6). He shortens that in verse 7 by simply saying, "Train yourself for godliness." Let's look briefly at a man who gave us an excellent example of this.

The prophet Daniel was a man highly esteemed by God (Dan. 10:11, 19). I think that's another way of saying that he was found by God to be a good servant. Why was he found to be a good servant? We know Daniel was full of wisdom and knowledge (Dan. 1:4)—is that why he was esteemed by God? Well if you've read the whole book of Daniel, you know that God revealed dreams and their interpretations to Daniel, which no other man could see. "Not because of any wisdom that I have," Daniel said (Dan. 2:30). So it wasn't because of his wisdom.

Daniel 6 tells the story of the lion's den, I'm sure you know it well. Verse 23 says, "So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." Daniel was highly esteemed because he trusted in God. So much so that he continued to pray to God, even when he knew he would be killed if found out. The bottom line: training in godliness was more important to Daniel than even his own life.

Here Paul is challenging Timothy—and by extension, us—to be like Daniel. 1 Timothy 4:1 says that many will depart from the faith because of "the insincerity of liars." That sounds a lot like the guys who conspired against Daniel. It may even sound a lot like some people you know.

So do as Daniel did—he continued to pray three times a day, despite the real danger of losing his life. Even if the cost is great, immerse yourself in the faith with your hope set on the living God. Strive to become a good servant of Christ Jesus by training yourself for godliness.