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Who are you supposed to listen to? Isn't that a question that we all ask ourselves at one time or another? Everyone seems to know what is good for you or me. So many want to help us that it's hard sometimes to know who to listen to. Just think of all of the rules and people that you and I must pay attention to and then decide which is right, and which is wrong. There are laws that we must obey that have been written by men for our protection. There are rules that are made by mothers and fathers that we had better listen to if we like living where we are growing up. Then there are little pieces of advice that are given to us by our friends that we like to think are right because we like our friends. Everyone wants to tell us how to live. I guess you know that God also has told us that he wants us to listen to Him and obey Him as well. Some people think that all of the rules and ideas on how to live are what make life so complicated.

Did I ever tell you the story that I heard from a friend of mine called Rehoboam, the lion? It's really about a man called Daniel and the problems that he had with rules. Maybe you know the story as it is told in the Bible, but I wonder if you ever heard it from the lion's point of view, You see, Rehoboam had been captured and put into a den with several other lions. It was a disgusting place for any respecting lion to be since he had to be cooped up in a small hole under the floor. Rehoboam thought of how wonderful it had been when he was free to run on the hard ground or to lay quietly in the warm sunshine. Now he was kept in this dark hole where it got cold and clammy during the rainy season and hot and dusty during the dry seasons. Besides it was such a small hole for several lions to share. The food was awful and at times it seemed like they forgot to feed them at all. How Rehoboam hated being there. In time Rehoboam's coat grew shaggy and lost it's beautiful color. But worst of all was when the soldiers threw men into their den and expected his shaggy friend lions and himself to eat the man. Oh, how Rehoboam hated that moment when the lions fought over the man. It never lasted very long since the lions were hungry and the men usually died from fright. The man that they threw in the den were always so scared and they would scream and cry until the lions would do what the soldiers wanted them to do with this man, It was awful.

I guess Rehoboam was thinking about this because they hadn't eaten for awhile and he just knew that before long he would hear shouting and screaming and then the trap door would open and you could see with a little bit of light, something being thrown down into their prison, the den. Sure enough, before he could quit thinking about what he had thought, the trap door opened and a man was thrown into the hole. Rehoboam couldn't watch as he heard the other lions growl and leap towards the man who had been thrown in with them. As hungry as they were this wouldn't take long, he thought to himself. They must have been extra hungry, for the great lions quit growling and started purring to one another with satisfied grins. He looked around expecting to see nothing but the bones of the man, but instead he saw a strong, bold, tall man stroking the lions' manes and rubbing their backs. My, what courage he had to pet such angry lions, and ignore their growling. Rehoboam knew he had never seen anything like it before.

After a while the now peaceful lions went and layed down and the man bent over, knelt down, and began to talk to someone whom Rehoboam could not see. He thanked someone called God for not only giving him courage, but also for protecting him. It was later that the man said that his name was Daniel.

Daniel told Rehoboam, "Some men were jealous of me because the King seemed to favor me and rewarded me for my work. One day they plotted to get rid of me by tricking the king. They asked the king to sign a law that said that everyone had to pray to the King for thirty days, and to no one else. The King didn't know that I prayed to my God and he agreed. No one could break the law after the king signed the paper including the King himself. I still prayed to God and the jealous men caught me and reported me to the King. The King had no choice but to put me in the lion's den. This made the king very sad. "But weren't you afraid to be put in our den where men are eaten like ripe figs?" asked Rehoboam. "No," said Daniel, "I know that my God is your God and He would protect me from you and you from me, for our God is not only a God of courage, but a God of love."

Daniel then told them that there were a lot of rules and that some times you had to choose between the rules. Rehoboam asked Daniel how he knew which rule to choose when there were so many. Daniel said that it was easy because the first rule that he had to listen to was the one that God made and that every other rule had to agree with God's rule or it wasn't a good rule to follow. Even when men try to hurt you, you must still not follow their rules because it is better to follow the rule of God. Daniel said that you have to live by people rules for only a short time, but with God's rules you live forever.

Well, that's how it happened one day in a lions' den with a man called Daniel and a lion named Rehoboam. I hope that you will always remember which rule is the first rule to remember. It's God's rule.