The Writing Is On The Wall
God numbers your days and knows your heart. He calls you to commit your heart to Him and live for Christ alone pressing forward to the prize that you can win.
“Your camp must be holy...Do not charge a fellow Israelite interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest...If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God"
Deuteronomy 23:1, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23-25
What does it mean to you to be holy? How does holiness impact how you live? To be holy is to be set apart by the Lord and to belong to God. It is to live in such a way where your life reflects separation from the common and dedication to God.
What is the distinction and how does it help us understand how to live for God? God starts with holiness because He wants us to see there is a difference between the Creator and the common practices of the created world. This is less about moral perfection and more about the desires of one's heart. The ways of the world are centered on the individual whereas the ways of holiness are God centered.
Which one more describes how you are living? What does your life say about what is most important to you? Are you most focused on getting what you want or seeing God's will be done? God tells us we have to choose. If we are not intentional then the ways of the world will choose for us. This is why holiness is a pursuit. It requires intentionality in how we live and where we put our trust.
“Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, Lord, proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells. My feet stand on level ground"
Psalms 26:2-3, 6-8, 12
David knows he will not be perfect in how he pursues God, but he wants to remain perfectly faithful to God. What helps him stay true to the God he loves? He continually tests and examines his life to see if he is remaining holy as God is holy. He is not allowing other people's opinions to influence how he lives. He is mindful of God's commands and presence. How often do you test and examine your life? Do you take time each day to reflect? What would happen if you began to keep a reflection journal where each day you tested and examined your life? Would you be willing to take the five minutes to make sure your heart stays true?
David does not say he does not get his hands dirty. He says he washes his hands in innocence and goes to the alter proclaiming what God has done. We live in a world that loves to celebrate individual's accomplishments. David could have done this but he didn't. Song after song that he wrote proclaimed what God has done, is doing, and will do. He says his feet are on level ground because he neither gets too high nor too low. He has a right understanding of what is right.
“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you. Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. Do not withhold discipline from a child...My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed; Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path...My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,”
Proverbs 23:4, 10-13, 15, 17-19, 22, 26
Do you ever feel worn out? Why? What is it that causes us to feel physically and emotionally exhausted? How often does the desire to work or find a way to get ahead the culprit that steals the best of our energy? God has better plans for you. He wants to give a life where you are refreshed and rejuvenated. You were never meant to go through life exhausted.
Do you want to know the first step to living a life that is refreshed? Choose margin over material things. Practice reading the word and prayer multiple times each day. Give time back to the God who made time. Do you practice the Sabbath, the day of refreshment? Try putting your phone and electronics away and see if giving God a day back every week does not feed your soul and fill your life with refreshment. Jesus said the man was not made for the Sabbath, Sabbath was made for man. It is a gift that many people never open.
Solomon says do not let your heart envy sinners, but give your heart to God. This is one of the most important verses in all of scripture. As you pause each day and build margin to hear God's voice, one of the first words will always be my son or my daughter give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways. God's says give me your heart and pursue holiness by seeing the Holy Spirit in action. What will you choose? Will you choose? Do you want more of what other people have or do you want to receive the best that God can give you? Fully give Him your heart.
“King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem...As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall...His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking...Daniel was brought before the king...You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else...Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory...you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways...This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin...Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians...That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain"
Daniel 5:1-6, 13-15, 17-18, 20, 22-31
This seems like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. A big royal party thrown by the wealthy, powerful, and elite that gets interrupted by a floating hand. The king does not know what to make of things nor why things have gone terribly wrong. All he knows in that moment is that he is not holy and he is afraid for good reason.
What happens when we step back from our self-centered ways? We can see pretty quickly that we are not God, nor do we have the power God does. Is this not a similar feeling that you can feel as you stand on an ocean shore and hear the mighty roar of precisely sent waves? It is humbling and good for us to know that we are not God.
We could all learn from Daniel's heart. The king offers him power and gold if he will tell him what the writing means. Daniel is not phased. He tells the king that he can keep his treasure and that earthly power means nothing to him. He lives for God and shares the words of God which to the unfaithful can be quite terrifying.
What is the message? Your days are numbered, you have been found wanting, and all that you have worked for will be lost. Is this not the truth that confronts us all if we live for the world and for ourself? Famous martyred missionary Jim Elliot once said, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what cannot be lost." Are we living like Elliot? Are you living with the end in mind?
“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more...whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death...Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:1, 4-8, 10, 12-14, 18-19
Paul encountered many people who were unwilling to listen and had hardness in their hearts. Paul had every reason to exalt himself and proclaim his authority. He never did. Do you see how his heart aligned with Daniel's, David's, and Solomon's? He says I consider everything a loss except knowing Jesus Christ. Everything? All things? Imagine the freedom he must have felt. So often our possessions end up possessing our hearts. Paul would have none of that kind of life. He wanted a life of holiness, wholly devoted to Jesus.
Paul knew the things in life that could hold him back. He knew that pride, possessions, and his past were traps that the enemy would use to try to trip him up. Are those not the same things that can trip us up? How often are the roots of our issues related to pride, possessions, and our past? The enemy loves to pour on plenty of shame, guilt, anxiety, and fear on our lives. He wants to twist the words of truth so that we doubt that God loves us unconditionally. He wants us to question our salvation and try to fall back into the mindset of performance based salvation where we have to be good enough or do enough to be in right standing with God. Paul told the enemy to take a hike and simply walked the path of loving Jesus with all of his heart, mind, soul and strength.
Does rejecting the performance-based mindset of earning salvation mean Paul stopped trying his best? Not ever. Paul says he pressed on for the prize of participation in the kingdom and living a resurrected life that comes from knowing Christ. The call and the prize that Paul pursued is the same call and prize that we are offered. We are called to press on. Forget the past and pursue a life of holiness that is found with the Holy One as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. You are called to participate. You are called to live with the freedom of new life that comes from being resurrected in Christ. Nothing else matters but the love of Christ that flows in and through us as we press on to the heavenly prize set before us.
The writing is on the wall. One day our earthly lives will end, but we do not need to wait until then for our holiness to begin. We can live set apart, distinct and holy now as we surrendered our hearts to Jesus Christ. Your days are numbered which should encourage you to make each one count. Your life will be measured as Jesus will one day as what you have done with what you were given. But, you will not experience parsin because you serve a king who reigns forever and unites us with His love.