Thursday March 3, 2011

Read Daniel 5:13-23. 1 Peter 5:6-7. 1 Cor 1:26-29

The irony and comedy continue. As Daniel is called to the great throne room he is offered great wealth and prestige to read the writing on the wall. Daniel rejects any offer of reward from this king, though he accepted it from the real King Nebuchadnezzar. Then he begins to explain the writing on the wall with a rehearsal of the history of King Nebuchadnezzar. Again this former king is held up as the example of real kingship.

You can almost hear the biting sarcasm in Daniel’s words as the point is made:-

"But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.

When we turn to the Lord first and foremost we are not being weak or impotent. We are being humble. The Lord loves genuine, true humility. The Lord lifts up the humble. He exalts the humble and draws near to them because they are drawing near to Him.  The Lord works powerfully through those who humble themselves before the Lord.

The opposite side of the equation is pride. When we think we have all the answers and are determined to do it our way, in our strength, in our time we are being proud. What we are declaring to the world is clear - “Hey! Look at me! I don’t need anybody!” That kind of light will never draw people to the Lord. It may attract those who need pragmatic assistance to get their life in order but they won’t be coming to the Lord for grace and salvation. They’ll be coming to you to learn your methods and secrets of success. Hear this very carefully -  successful people still end up in hell!!

Thinking through pride and humility reveals a very important truth.. When the world looks at us they see one of two things. They can either see me walking tall and confident and victorious in my own strength or they’ll see Christ working in me. The latter comes with true humility and is a powerful magnet to draw people to Christ Jesus.

Prayer:-

þ  Do you have pride to repent of? Talk to God. Confess the pride and ask for His forgiveness. Read 1 John 1:9 and spend time praising God for His forgiveness.

þ Pray for Andrew Bryan and his family as he serves in Student Life. Ask God to endow Andrew and his team with deep wisdom to reach as many students as practical. Pray that all resources for their work would be provided.