OPPORTUNITIES TO CHANGE OUR FUTURE
Daniel 4:27 Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.
It seemed that God liked to speak to King Nebuchadnezzar in dreams and visions. We don’t seem to hear of this happening much anymore, or they are not just being shared with the church. At Pentecost Peter reminded the church that in the last days God said that he would pour out his Spirit on all people. Our sons and daughters will prophesy, our young men will see visions, our old men will dream dreams. God will pour out his Spirit on both men and women in these days and they will prophesy. So what God was doing in and for King Nebuchadnezzar was not that unusual at least for some.
What was unusual was why God gave him this dream. King Nebuchadnezzar had become the greatest king of the greatest empire of his day. His fame and power were known and feared throughout the middle east. The problem was that it made him proud to the point that he no longer gave the Lord credit for his greatness, but instead gave himself the credit.
After he had the dream he realized that it had significance for his life. He called his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners, but they couldn’t or wouldn’t tell him the meaning. It may have been that they were afraid to tell him, because it was a dream from God warning him of his future and it wasn’t good. Finally King Nebuchadnezzar called for Daniel. He was the the chief of all the king's magicians or wise men. When Daniel was told about the dream he was alarmed, because Daniel clearly respected and honored the king. I believe he even loved him, because he quickly begged Nebuchadnezzar to renounce or repent of his sins and start doing what was right. Daniel told him to be kind to the oppressed, and then maybe his prosperity would continue. If Nebuchadnezzar would not then God’s judgment would come upon him, and he would live like an animal for seven years. Sad to say Nebuchadnezzar didn’t take Daniel’s advice and one day in his pride he fell from God’s grace by saying, “Isn't this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” As with Satan’s fall because of his pride, now King Nebuchadnezzar had fallen too. The difference would be at the end of the seven years Nebuchadnezzar would repent of his pride, and he praised and glorified the Most High. Because of his repentance, the Lord returned his sanity, and he became even greater than he was before his fall much like Job.
What I would like to point out it the fact that he didn’t have to go through the seven years of rebuke by the Lord. God had given him an altar call or a chance to change. His future didn’t have to be one of tragedy and regret. Daniel told him to renounce or repent of his ways and he didn’t. Thus King Nebuchadnezzar experienced the lessons of God the hard way. Altar calls from God come to everyone all the time, because he doesn’t want anyone to sin and experience his punishment. God warns us because he loves us. Even for people that are not Christians or right with him, God is continually working with people to get them right with him. The sad part is that like with Nebuchadnezzar, many people reject God’s warning and experience God’s punishment.
Life is full of regrets! Some are big and others are small, but any regret is still a regret and most often as the chain of Scrooge we pull them throughout our life. It doesn’t have to be this way. While none of us are perfect and will never sin or have regrets, we can experience God’s grace to cut the chains of regret that will bind us from having the happiness and joy that God wants us to live in. It is all a matter of want to. God has given us a free will, and it is up to us to choose how we will use it. If we are wise we will walk in humility and seek always to want to do the Lord’s will for our life. When we do sin and fall short of his will, we can still go to him for help in making things right and he will help us. It is God’s will that we do this. God realizes that we will mess things up, but like with Nebuchadnezzar he wants to help us prevent our mistakes and fix them when we do mess up.
Last Sunday I was watching Reverend Jentezen Franklin on TV, and he had a young man in his service that was in his late twenties. The young man had been in prison. While there he saw one of Reverend Franklin's programs, and had his own altar call. Right there in prison decided that he was going to change, become a Christian and let God turn his future into something good. Soon after doing this he was released on parole and with the help of Reverend Franklin and the Lord, he was living a new life.
Have you received an altar call from God lately? Is God telling you that there is something in your life that you need to change? Well, do it as quickly as you can, because it is for your own good. God doesn’t take good from us, he wants to bring good to us. If he is telling you to get rid of something it is for your own good. God’s altar call is an opportunity to change our future for the better.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your patience, but thank you for not wanting us to remain in the muck and mire that sin and regret can have on us. Please help us to humble ourselves and always want to do your will, so you can bring us victory and we can enjoy the life that you have given us. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Thank you Lord.
