Marshmallow Test :
You’re seated in a small room with a table in front of you. On the table is a tray of puffy white sweets that most of us know and love ---- Marshmallows.
A man shows up and explains that he is going to leave the room for a few minutes. While he’s gone you can ring a bell to summon him back and then eat a treat. Or you can wait until he returns and then receive two Marshmallows.
The test is supposed to measure a person’s ability to exchange short term pleasure for a better long term outcome.
Daniel decided to put off the pleasure of his “daily ration of food and wine” (
Daniel 1: 5) from king Nebuchadnezzar’s kitchens in order to honour God.
It’s like that the king’s kitchens produced mountains of roast meat, loaves of warm bread, jugs of top-notch wine and towers of cakes dripping with honey. However, “Daniel was determined not to defile himself” by eating the king’s comfort food (
Daniel 1: 8) Notice Daniel was determined.
As captive in Babylonia it must have been hard to say “please pass the spinach” when the king’s delicacies were being offered (
Daniel 1: 12)
Some bible commentaries presents the idea that Daniel refused the food because it had been offered to idols or that it was a way of staying separate from the Babylonian culture. Whatever the reason Daniel’s self-restraint honoured God.
The lord blessed the brave young man and his friends with aptitude in their Babylonian studies, and Daniel was able to interpret visions and dreams (
Daniel 1: 17) What’s more he and his fellow dieters looked healthier than the men who feasted on the king’s food (
Daniel 1: 15).
The next time you face a test like Daniel, consider the long term result of the immediate pleasure. Honouring God in this life is what matters most in the long run………………
