Picture of the day:
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| Me and my roommates on our camping trip to North Carolina. |
Now for some thoughts on Daniel chapter 5:
Like father like son eh? So we have this new character King Belshezzar who is said to be Nebuchadnezzar's son. I am guessing that the whole "honor God and worship only Him" business was not talked about at their dinner table because Belshezzar absolutely did not get the message. He brings out the sacred dishes the Babylonians had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and partied it up. God runs out of compassion and sends the hand down to right the condemning words. The king consults his wise men first with no luck. His mom reminds him of this guy Daniel who seems to be real good with puzzles so the king sends for him. Daniel tells him the writing on the wall in essence says that he is about to die and his kingdom removed from his hands. So at the end of the rope, Belshazzar has a choice, and I think it is really interesting the choice he makes.
First let's generalize Belshazzar's situation. I believe it is safe to assume he knew he was running from God. This most likely was not a "spur of the moment" incident with the gold and silver dishes. This is a guy who is consciously choosing to live in sin and God is giving him his last chance. I can relate a great deal to this situation just as most others. I grew up hearing the mistakes that my friends and family had made in their past and the strong warnings to honor God with my life. I chose to rebel anyways, and spent many years running from my own guilt and shame. So what kind of response are we going to have when God meets us with such a direct sentence? Here are a few I can think of:
1. Keep running from the truth.
Anger, fear, shame... all of these emotions can keep us in a state of solitude from the helping hand of repentance. Guilt will drive us to crazy ends... and if we don't let down our pride and repent quick we will surely parish into the loneliness of being separated from grace forever. This is how King Ahab responded to Micaiah when placed on the hot seat... and soon found an arrow in between his armor.
2. Try to replace a "good" for what is "best".
This is probably what we do most often when we have been accused, and it is what Belshezzar did after Daniel gave him the interpretation of the words on the wall. But this reaction, even more so than running from God, shows ones ignorance on the true nature of God. We think that we can justify our actions by doing some small "noble" act right at the end. Maybe we offer up a few favors to our accuser or start listing all the reasons we start listing off all of our meaningless accomplishments. For Belshezzar it was making Daniel the third highest ranking leader of his kingdom. But we see what this amounts to... Belshezzar died in his sleep that night, and we surely will too if we do not see what is the "best" thing we can do in any situation.
3. Humble ourselves before God.
This is the best choice always. There are no guarantees on what God will do in any situation, but the bible says that if we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up in due time. =]
That is all! I have a lot on the agenda today do until tomorrow, stay blessed and highly favored!
First let's generalize Belshazzar's situation. I believe it is safe to assume he knew he was running from God. This most likely was not a "spur of the moment" incident with the gold and silver dishes. This is a guy who is consciously choosing to live in sin and God is giving him his last chance. I can relate a great deal to this situation just as most others. I grew up hearing the mistakes that my friends and family had made in their past and the strong warnings to honor God with my life. I chose to rebel anyways, and spent many years running from my own guilt and shame. So what kind of response are we going to have when God meets us with such a direct sentence? Here are a few I can think of:
1. Keep running from the truth.
Anger, fear, shame... all of these emotions can keep us in a state of solitude from the helping hand of repentance. Guilt will drive us to crazy ends... and if we don't let down our pride and repent quick we will surely parish into the loneliness of being separated from grace forever. This is how King Ahab responded to Micaiah when placed on the hot seat... and soon found an arrow in between his armor.
2. Try to replace a "good" for what is "best".
This is probably what we do most often when we have been accused, and it is what Belshezzar did after Daniel gave him the interpretation of the words on the wall. But this reaction, even more so than running from God, shows ones ignorance on the true nature of God. We think that we can justify our actions by doing some small "noble" act right at the end. Maybe we offer up a few favors to our accuser or start listing all the reasons we start listing off all of our meaningless accomplishments. For Belshezzar it was making Daniel the third highest ranking leader of his kingdom. But we see what this amounts to... Belshezzar died in his sleep that night, and we surely will too if we do not see what is the "best" thing we can do in any situation.
3. Humble ourselves before God.
This is the best choice always. There are no guarantees on what God will do in any situation, but the bible says that if we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up in due time. =]
That is all! I have a lot on the agenda today do until tomorrow, stay blessed and highly favored!
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