Sunday, March 22, 2009
Daniel 2: This is not just for you
Another post from my personal study in the book of Daniel.
“ I thank and praise you, o God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of you,
You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
- Daniel 2:23
God blessed Daniel with a wonderful gift - not just his wisdom and ability to interpret dreams - but also this immediate gift of the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The great thing about Daniel though is that he knows that the gift is not just for him. He knows that it is for his friends, the king, his peers, and for the greater glory of God.
When Daniel goes before the king to give him the interpretation, he is fast to acknowledge that such things don’t come from man, but from God who gives all things. Both then and now, millennia later, the blessing of God’s action carries forward.
Daniel also knew that in addition to the blessing and the interpretation, the stress and burden of the king’s actions were not just his to deal with but to be shared by him and his friends. They went to God together. They shared the burden and they shared the blessing.
God does not wish for you to go it alone. He provides friends, family, the church, for you. And he gives us, today, his spirit to guide and comfort us in all things. Going it alone is not usually how God works. He may work that way at times, but even if he does, his blessings are not just for you. They are his to share with everyone in your life and beyond.
For me, personally, this is why it bothers me when I miss church - which my sleepiness on Sunday mornings precipitates more often than I care to acknowledge. It does not bother me because I feel some obligation, or duty to be there, it bothers me because I am not sharing in God’s corporate blessing.
Another post from my personal study in the book of Daniel.
“ I thank and praise you, o God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of you,
You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
- Daniel 2:23
God blessed Daniel with a wonderful gift - not just his wisdom and ability to interpret dreams - but also this immediate gift of the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The great thing about Daniel though is that he knows that the gift is not just for him. He knows that it is for his friends, the king, his peers, and for the greater glory of God.
When Daniel goes before the king to give him the interpretation, he is fast to acknowledge that such things don’t come from man, but from God who gives all things. Both then and now, millennia later, the blessing of God’s action carries forward.
Daniel also knew that in addition to the blessing and the interpretation, the stress and burden of the king’s actions were not just his to deal with but to be shared by him and his friends. They went to God together. They shared the burden and they shared the blessing.
God does not wish for you to go it alone. He provides friends, family, the church, for you. And he gives us, today, his spirit to guide and comfort us in all things. Going it alone is not usually how God works. He may work that way at times, but even if he does, his blessings are not just for you. They are his to share with everyone in your life and beyond.
For me, personally, this is why it bothers me when I miss church - which my sleepiness on Sunday mornings precipitates more often than I care to acknowledge. It does not bother me because I feel some obligation, or duty to be there, it bothers me because I am not sharing in God’s corporate blessing.
Labels: Bible Study, Christian living, Daniel
