The Party is not the Problem, It's the Praise

Daniel chapter five is the account of the handwriting on the wall which appeared to King Belshazzar as he was partying with his lords and wives and concubines. Perhaps the King intended to soothe the fears of his guests as the army of the Medes and Persians surrounded the city.

To calm fears is not a bad thing. To party is not a bad thing. But as the party/therapy session progressed. Belshazzar decided to take it up a notch by bringing in the vessels that had been taken from the Temple of God when God gave Jerusalem into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar's grandfather. He might have gotten by with that as a confidence builder and a demonstration of the power of the army of Babylon (or at least their former power). But when the king began to praise the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, a hand was sent from the presence of God to proclaim that Belshazzar had been measured and found lacking. And that night he would lose everything as the Medes, unopposed, invaded the city and killed Belshazzar.

Belshazzar not only took the things of God for granted, but as he held in his hand what should have made him aware of God's god-ness, he gave praise to the symbol. We as image bearers of God need to be careful that we do not get too impressed with us, the symbols...or other little symbols God has brought into our lives to remind us of Him, for us to surrender to Him, for us to care for and shine up to make Him more impressive.