Thursday, November 3, 2011

Daniel's Humble Pie

Daniel 2:28-35


28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:
 29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
 31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

As I read this portion of Daniel, Chapter 2, what I thought was the most interesting part of it was that Daniel did not take credit for any of it.  He said that God showed him the vision so he could explain it, not to make himself greater than anyone else.  How often to we take the praise (or blame) for something that was not of our own doing?  Daniel, from the beginning of this journey, has never taken credit for anything.  In doing so, he made himself likeable to the king.  Isn't that what we all want?  To make people like us.  We usually go about it the wrong way, by taking the credit for things to make us look better.  But Daniel has the correct idea.  Give God the glory and humble himself.  That is what we all need to do.  Have a piece of humble pie.

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