By Tom Wiles | For The Times-Post
Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. — Daniel 5:1-31
Watching as the final points trickled in, it was clear.
The writing was on the wall for my fantasy football team.
The season had proved to be an exercise in futility.
Out-of-character performances by my players and complete mismanagement on my part sent me to the bottom of the standings.
With the familiar refrain, “Wait till next year” echoing in my mind, I humbly went to bed.
King Belshazzar was living it up.
As King Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, he had quite the kingdom.
However, he apparently was either a slow learner or a quick forgetter.
He knew how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar.
Yet, he specifically chose the gold cups taken from God’s Temple to use in his party for the purpose of worshipping his false gods.
Bad idea.
The floating handwriting on the wall told him so.
He never saw another sunrise.
God numbers our days.
God weighs our lives.
God divides kingdoms.
God’s time of judgment came for the king as it will come for us all.
Any life not covered by the righteousness of Jesus will be found wanting and left separated from God.
God rules his world with justice and truth as well as with grace and mercy.
Peter told us in his letter that the end is near.
We’re in the last days.
Today, Paul wrote, is the day of salvation.
Let’s be quick learners and slow forgetters.
Heart defense
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. — I John 5:1-21
My below-average heart rate normally results in the doctor’s office staff finding a different pulse-checking device.
Concern remains even after I explain the pulse rate is normal for me.
Heredity, I guess. I do appreciate the concern though as our physical hearts are kind of a big deal.
Regular checkups and significant life choices are required to keep them as healthy as possible.
John ends his letter with a final admonition to pay extra special attention to the spiritual heart residing in the deepest part of who we are.
It’s the place, from which, our love for God and our love for others is to freely flow.
It’s the place where God is to be honored above all else.
Our hearts, he reveals to us, can be distracted.
The things, people and experiences of this world can vie for our affections.
If we drop our guard, we’ll usher in all kinds of unnecessary trauma.
John lays out some of the critical weapons needed to defend our hearts: faith in Jesus, prayer and obedience to God’s word.
When these are dropped or are set aside, we can be quite certain we have given top spot in our heart to something other than God.
Jesus came to give us life and life to the full.
Our hearts will be restless until they rest in him.
Stay on guard because the tidal wave of noise from this world will constantly work to disturb that rest.
Return
Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. — Hosea 6:1-11
After a careful explanation of my infraction, my dad would put me over his knee and administer a firm swat with the paddle.
It did hurt even with multiple pairs of shorts on under my pants.
I truly tried to avoid putting my dad in that position as it wasn’t any fun for either of us.
He made sure, however, that after the swat he would console me and reaffirm his love for me, which looking back consoled him too.
Hosea plead with his people, “Let us return to the Lord.”
His heart to restore is just as certain as his discipline.
Idol worship, breaking their covenant with God as well as meaningless sacrifices had put them under God’s just punishment.
Hosea continued, “God will restore us. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn.”
Hosea reassures them they can once again live in the wonder and warmth of a close relationship with him. Just return.
Jesus came to extend that same invitation to us, “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”
It’s not God’s heart for us to live under the weight of a self-directed life.
As one author wrote, “We were made by him and for him. Until we embrace that truth, life just won’t make much sense.”
God wants us to know him, to do life now and later with him.
Whatever we’re allowing in our lives to distract us from that relationship simply isn’t worth it.
Tom Wiles is senior minister of Fall Creek Christian Church in Pendleton. He can be reached at 765-778-3166.