Passage Read: Daniel 4-7
Meditation Verses: 5:21-23
Thought
Belshazzar knew of his father's insanity, both the cause and the reason his kingdom was restored. Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom because of his own pride, thinking that he had made Babylon great without recognizing that it was God who allowed it and blessed him. But when his mind returned, he blessed the God of heaven and his kingdom was restored to him. Belshazzar learned nothing from the incident, though he was clearly aware of it. And God held him accountable to that knowledge. He didn't humble himself and honor the God who ruled all nations, though he drank from His vessels. Instead, he mocked the Lord God in praising all kinds of false gods and ignoring Him. Belshazzar didn't get a second chance like his father; he died that very night.
Application
I'm accountable to every truth I hear about God. I don't have an excuse because I didn't personally experience those things. If I read about it or hear about it or know it to be true, I'm just as accountable to that information as if I had lived it. In fact, hearing about it is my first warning. If I don't learn from it, I squander the Lord's mercy, because hearing about it is God's mercy to me. So if I've heard the tale and make light of it so as to ignore it or mock it, I am not entitled to another warning. If the Lord acts against me immediately, He is in the right. And if He should mercifully grant me an extension of days, that is an even greater mercy I do not deserve, and I should be all the more quick to humble myself, change my ways and honor Him by my words and deeds. I should be careful to abide by everything I have heard and read and know from God's Word.