15, 16. In what ways did Daniel and his three companions show that they were different from those about them?

¹⁵ There was also the striking example of Daniel and his three companions. How easy it would have been for them to have conformed themselves to the royal Babylonian system of things in the matter of the kind of food they would eat! But no, they did not let themselves be conformed to those all about them but had the courage to stand out as different, as the true worshipers of Jehovah God. And so the record tells us: “But Daniel [and his three companions] determined in his heart that he would not pollute himself with the delicacies of the king and with his drinking wine. And he kept requesting”​—yes, he did not bring up the matter simply once and then salve his conscience that he had tried, but repeatedly kept requesting “of the principal court-official that he might not pollute himself.” Finally the court official “listened to them as regards this matter and to put them to the test for ten days.” And how Jehovah God blessed Daniel and his three companions for their courageous stand! For braving the ridicule and disrespect of those all about them because of refusing to eat the fine royal fare and preferring to eat simple vegetable dishes (which were without fat, blood, etc.) they were found, at the end of their three years’ period of training, to be both healthier and wiser than all other trainees!​—Daniel, chapter 1.

Similarly when the rivals of Daniel succeeded in having a law passed by which they hoped to get Daniel out of the way, Daniel did not need to keep on praying three times a day before an open window in the direction of Jerusalem and thus let all men see how different he was from everybody else, did he? He could have prayed to God in secret. But he did not want to give anyone the impression that he was, even superficially, complying with the king’s anti-God decree. And how Jehovah rewarded him and his three companions for their courage to stand out as different, by miraculous deliverances and advancement!​—Daniel, chapters 3 and 6.