“And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.” –Daniel 5:22

Were you ever a rebel? Did you ever do anything that you had seen an older sibling do and get in trouble for but you did it anyway? Or maybe your parents told you stories of their childhood and the trouble that they got into and you did the same thing? That is the situation that Daniel is dealing with in the text. King Nebuchadnezzar, the previous king, had these dreams and no one could interpret them on his council so he asks Daniel, and through God’s power Daniel is able to interpret the dreams for the king. In his, king Neb’s, time in power we see him as a good leader, then a complete screw up, and then repent and give God the glory for what he had accomplished.

When Neb died his thrown was given to his son Belshazzar who doesn’t learn from his father’s mistakes. Belshazzar has a big party using the dishware from the temple in Jerusalem and then a human hand appears and starts writing a message that no one else can interpret but Daniel. Since Daniel was an advisor for king Neb and saw what he had gone through, he gives king Belshazzar a piece of his mind. Daniel points out that not only did Belshazzar know what mistakes his father had made he didn’t learn from them. Unfortunately for Belshazzar that situation ended with death.

Thankfully for us that is not usually the case, especially when it comes to our sins. We know the mistakes that others have done and some that we have done before. We know the consequence of our sins is death but we get so sucked into them that we forget what our purpose is. We forget that God wants us to use our gifts and our talents for His glory and that we were made to be vessels of the gospel message for others. Thankfully we don’t also get messages from random hands that tell us we are going to die either. Instead we get the patience and love of our heavenly Father who looks past our mistakes and sins and reminds us to get up and keep trying. No matter how many times we fall or how badly we rebel and screw up, God will always be there to pick us up and give us another chance. That’s just the kind of God we serve.

Question of the Day: When was the last time you messed up and got the “go get’em tiger” speech from someone? Does someone you know need that speech from you?

“If someone puts too much pressure on me, I will automatically rebel.” –Carnie Wilson