Thursday, August 21, 2008

Daniel 5: What is Written on Your Wall

Daniel Chapter 5 tells us that we are expected to learn from the mistakes of others and be humble. Nebuchadnezzar eventually learned which god was the God. Belshazzar, his successor, was not so lucky. He held a feast, and using items stolen from when Nebuchadnezzar overran the Jews, they celebrated and worshiped idols of all kinds. During the feast a hand appeared and wrote a message on a wall. When Daniel later interpreted the writings he told Belshazzar that he learned nothing from Nebuchadnezzar and that he had refused to humble himself before God. As punishment, he would lose his kingdom to the Persians and Medes, and his life would be lost as well. That night he was murdered and Darius the Mede took control over the kingdom.

For me, there are two lessons here.

1) Take note of other people's successes and failures. God doesn't put godly people in your life so that you can ignore them. They are tools for you. They are examples. The same goes for the ungodly. They too give us direction.

2) I wonder what the writing on my wall would say? This got me to thinking; we should make sure that the writing on our wall is a representation of our relationship with God. For some, the writing on the wall may actually be posted Bible verses. For others, it might be reading the Word regularly or helping those less fortunate. Those "writings" help the world to know about our future and they help to keep us on the right track. What does your writing on the wall say?

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 21:31
"The horses are prepared for battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord."

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