Happy Monday! This weekend was great. On top of it being my birthday on Friday I got the opportunity to go home and spend quality time with my family, my roommate, my girlfriend, and my oldest friend Jake who is moving to Arizona in a few weeks. I am so blessed to have the friends and family that I do!
Final thoughts from Daniel (chapter 12):
So this wraps up the conversation Daniel is having, or rather listening to, with this great angel. He is told that at the end of time the dead will arise, some to eternal life and some to everlasting contempt. Two other people appear before Daniel and ask the angel when these things will take place in which they receive the vague answer "for a time, times and half a time." That really clears things up for me..
One of the last things the angel says to him is that "none of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand." This is what I would like to ponder.
I have always found much hope in this idea. This does not mean that if you are smart enough you will get it and all the ordinary people will just miss out. I believe it is talking about at the end times, the wise and the wicked. The wise would be those who lived their life with wisdom, who heeded advice from others, obeyed the law, did what they knew to be right. At the end times I believe they will see clearly the purpose behind all of their best efforts, and "understand" how they were part of a greater plan. The wicked, those who act with their own agenda and out of their own desires will be clouded by their wickedness, they will not be able to see clearly and understand. I think this verse from 1 Corinthians 13 shows this point well:
"Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror; then we shall see face to face."
This is of course the verse at the top of my blog, it is one of my favorites. Paul is of course talking about those who are in Christ Jesus, those who live by wisdom and by the Truth. So here is the encouragement to all who believe in the Way: that even though it is very hard to see the point of living most of the time, one day we will see clearly... we will understand. Perhaps an example will illustrate this clearer:
When I was an employee at Chick-fil-a, there were many times I would work "behind the scenes." I would be working in the kitchen making chicken, wrapping it up, and then throwing it up to the front to be sold. There was a very meticulous method for assembling the chicken sandwiches into the bags, the top needed to be folded down three times to make sure the insulating layer was completely enclosing the sandwich. This often seemed like an unnecessary chore to me, and it would have been easy to get away with not doing it every time. Now what would happen if I never folded down the tops of the bag and then was given the opportunity to meet each one of the customers that had eaten one of my sandwiches. They would be angry they had a cold sandwich, and I would probably not feel as if I meant much to the company. Now if I had regularly took the extra time to fold the bag correctly and then met all the customers I had made sandwiches for, they would certainly be grateful for my efforts and I would be proud of the work I had done. In the first case, I would not understand as I would in the second case. This is just how it will be when we see our work here on earth for what it truly is. So there is the challenge, to do all things unto the Lord, as if we are being watched and one day will be judged.
That's all I got, stay blessed and highly favored!
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