What a disaster! I have been responsible for some pretty outrageous kitchen mess-ups during my early years as a wife, but they all pale in comparisons to this disaster. We had been married for only a few years when I thought it useful to learn how to can our own foods. We had a small garden and a limited budget, so it seemed prudent to acquaint myself with this old-school skill. Gradually I mastered the craft, learning the art of canning tomatoes first, then pickles, beans, applesauce, and the like. I was definitely ready for the next step, jams and jellies. I carefully prepped the grapes that we had harvested from the small arbor in our front yard. The project was going well until something went terribly amiss, one of the paraffin seals let loose, and steaming hot jelly shot like a cannon ball out of the jar and onto the kitchen wall, the white kitchen wall. Purple jelly and white walls-not a great combination AT ALL. That would be the day that I would learn the importance of a good seal; they are essential in keeping the air out and the jelly in!.
King Darius had been deceived, tricked by his “presidents and princes” into signing a foolish “royal statute,” forbidding anyone to “ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days.” All requests, including prayers, were to be directed at King Darius, ONLY King Darius! This was a well-conceived plot to trap Daniel, “find any occasion against him,” since they knew that Daniel prayed faithfully to the God of Israel “three times daily.” In spite of the risk and danger involved, Daniel would remain faithful to His God, and “as he did aforetime,” he would continue to pray daily, in clear view for all to see. As a result, Darius, who was bound by the law he had instituted, was forced to toss his godly adviser into the den of lions. Darius and the nobles sealed the pit with a stone sealed by the king’s “own signet” to prevent outside interference and tampering. This was intended to be Daniel’s tomb, but the King of kings is not limited by human actions. A powerful God sustained and protected his faithful, praying servant in the midst of those hungry cats.
Centuries later, Pilate would also seal a tomb, the tomb containing the Savior of the world. But as we learned from Daniel, the seal of an earthly ruler cannot suppress the authority of God. On the third day “there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven…and rolled back the stone of the door.” Christ triumphed over death, completing salvation’s eternal plan, and due to His victory we experience the blessing of God’s own seal of approval, for “after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” God graciously indwells ME with His Holy Spirit, His mark, His seal, a miraculous guarantee that I truly belong to Him, that I have a future inheritance with Him that is safe from any tampering. And praise God, that’s a seal that NO one can break!
II Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Thank You, Lord, for the seal of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for that resurrection power!