God's kitchen

This morning, my Disciple Bible Study reading was from the book of Daniel. If you've ever read Daniel, you know that Daniel and his friends were some of the exiles from the Jews' homeland of Judah. They were young men, most likely from the noble class who King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported from Judah and sent through his royal training program, intending for them to be servants in his court.
Part of the program was to eat royal rations from Nebuchadnezzar's palace. (I'm sure most of you are just about salivating now, just imagining what kind of tasty delicacies a king must have.)
But Daniel and his friends did a very strange thing! They refused to eat even one bite of the rich king's food! Why in the world would they do that? Because their God had commanded them that some things were off limits for them, including some foods. Someone once said: "a God that doesn't get care what you eat isn't worth serving!" So, Daniel and his friends' act of refusal was much more than simple taste preference. IT WAS AN ACT OF OBEDIENT WORSHIP TO THE ONE TRUE GOD!
Now, all this seems quaintly ancient to us modern folks. Or does it? Last year, on a famous reality t.v. show, a local Christian radio host refused to participate in a Buddhist worship service that she and other participants in the reality show were encouraged to attend. She was strongly criticized as being "another one of those goody-two-shoes, holier than thou Christians."
I saw it as a clear act of obedience similar to Daniel's actions so long ago. What do you need to say "no" to today in order to faithfully follow Christ? The latest gossip at school, church, or work, racism, assuming the worst about someone, always trying to be right, driving dangerously just to get ahead of others . . . the list goes on and on . . .