Category: Youth for Jesus

“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1Tim 4:15NIV)

Those are Paul’s words of admonition to Timothy. And he says them to him to show him how to make obvious progress in life. You know that it is possible for someone to think they are making progress in life, when they are actually not making any serious progress at all. It is also possible for someone to think they are making progress in life, when those around them cannot see them making any progress. And if that is the case with us, then, we may not expect those around us to give us the kind of attention or respect that we deserve.

In any case, if we want those around us to give us the kind of attention and respect that we deserve, our progress in whatever we are doing in life must be obvious to them. And that is what Paul is saying to Timothy in our opening bible text. He is telling him that if he wants to be taken seriously and also given the kind of respect that he deserves as a preacher and leader of God’s people, then, his progress must be obvious to all the people around him.

In other words, those who know Timothy and those around him must see that he is daily getting better in the way he lives, talks, behaves and handles his ministry. They must see that he is not stagnant in his walk with God and in handing the work that He has given to him. So, this is not about what he is saying to people concerning his progress; rather, it is about what everyone can see in his life.

How, then, will that happen? Well, as Paul points out, Timothy will need to diligently give himself to biblical instructions and their application. Once he is consistent and persistent in doing that, he will naturally begin to make obvious progress, a kind that everyone around him can testify to.

In like manner, if you want to make obvious progress in your spiritual walk as a child of God and in your ministry, you too must diligently give yourself to biblical instructions and their application. There is no other way. There are no shortcuts. So, if you won’t be diligent and earnest in giving yourself to these things, you won’t make any tangible or obvious spiritual progress. And even if you fake your progress, something that a lot of people are doing today, a day is coming when it will become clear to everyone around you that you have been nothing but stagnant all along.

Mind you, the principle Paul shares here with Timothy is not applicable to making obvious spiritual progress alone; it is also applicable to making obvious progress in every area of life. In other words, if we want to make obvious progress in our business or in our academics, what we need is to diligently and wholeheartedly give ourselves to doing the right things, things that will result in progress. We cannot afford to be slothful or lazy. We cannot afford to be taking half-measures. Otherwise, even if we make any progress, it won’t earn us the attention or respect of serious-minded people.

Remember that Solomon says, “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” (Prov 22:29KJV) And he says this because, as a very wise man, he has learnt from experience that anything we diligently, carefully and attentively give ourselves to handling can only produce results that will sooner or later get people’s attention and respect. So, if we want to get out of the rot of stagnation in our business, trade or academics, we must begin to apply diligence in handling it.

Now, of course, unless God makes us progress in our life, no measure of diligence will achieve obvious progress for us. So, don’t rely on your diligence for obvious progress in your spiritual walk or in other matters of life. Instead, rely solely on God. And He will honour your diligence and every other step of faith that you take towards accomplishing excellence in life.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.” (Deut 17:14-15NIV)

When the elders of Israel came to Samuel, who had been their judge for years, and requested that he give them a king, was he surprised? No, he was not surprised at all. Of course, he was not happy about it. Why was he not happy about it? First, it was because it showed that his sons, whom he had appointed as judges over the people, had terribly failed and disappointed them. (Cf. 1Sam 8:1-6)

Second, Samuel was not happy about their request because it showed that they were not after learning the will of God about the matter but had already come up with their own will. So, what they wanted was not for God to tell them anything about who would be their next judge but for Him to permit them to become like the nations around them and have their own king. That means they did not think that God’s philosophy of giving them judges was the best. They saw it as inferior to the philosophy of having kings, which the nations around them held.

But is man’s philosophy of having kings actually superior to God’s philosophy of giving him judges? No! As God told Samuel to tell the people, a king is not among his people as their equal; rather, he is among them as their ruler. So, he is going to exercise dominion over them, using whatever means he considers necessary. And they will just have to be subject to him, regardless of what they think about him and his ability to lead them. Otherwise, he will make sure their lives are utterly miserable. (Cf. 1Sam 8:6-18)

A judge, God’s chosen judge, however, is different from a king. He does not see himself as a ruler of his people but as their equal. So, he knows that for them to accept his leadership, he will have to earn it. And that was the case with all the judges that God had given the nation of Israel before they started having kings. All of them earned their right to lead the people and to be respected by them.

That, of course, also is how it ought to be in every place where democracy is practised today. Those who lead should be men and women who have earned their right to lead and to be respected through their persistence in doing good works and through their consistent display of wisdom and diligence in managing their own affairs. And is this the case where you are?

In any case, as I already pointed out, even though Samuel was not happy that the people were rejecting God’s plan and going for man’s plan, he was not surprised at all. Why? It was because, years before that happened, God had already said that a time would come when the people would do that. When did He say that? It was when the people were still with Moses in the wilderness and had not yet come into the Promised Land.

Now we see that in our opening bible verses. We see God announcing years ahead that the Israelites would one day demand to have a king over them, just like the nations around them. So, in addition to the points I already shared on Samuel’s unhappiness about their request for a king, another reason he was unhappy was that the word of God was eventually coming to pass in his own time. It was in his time that the people rejected God’s leadership plan for them and chose to adopt the plan of men.

In any event, since God had always known that the Israelites would someday ask for a king instead of a judge, their request for a king in Samuel’s time did not surprise Him. On the contrary, He was already prepared for them. In other words, before they made that request, He had been nurturing the man who would be their first king. So, when they made the request, He simply told Samuel to listen to them and give them what they wanted. And to make the job easy for the prophet, He lost no time at all in sending him Saul, the man who later became their first king. (Cf. 1Sam 9-10)

In like manner, when Saul began to misbehave, Samuel became unhappy again, not understanding why God’s choice would turn bad almost overnight. But again, as we see in the bible, Saul’s misbehaviour was not a surprise to God at all. Yes, He was very unhappy about it. But He was not surprised. Otherwise, He would not have prepared young David to replace him. (Cf. 1Sam 3-16)

What is the point of all this? It is that we cannot surprise God. Otherwise, He would not be God. But He is God. And as God, He knows everything, the end from the beginning. So, He is able to fix any situation for us, as long as we allow Him to fix it. Yes, we may have surprised ourselves and perhaps others around us with the mess we have made of our lives, homes or affairs. But God is not surprised at all. He has always known how things will turn out. He has always known where we will listen to Him and not fall and where we will not listen and fall. Also, He has always known where others will unduly interfere with our lives and mess things up for us.

So, He probably has a million and one solutions standing by for us for every problem. All He needs us to do is to just allow Him to fix things for us. And they will be fixed, however messed up they may seem. But as long as we keep thinking that He is always as surprised about the happenings of our lives as we are, we will continue to think of Him as a clueless God, as a God who has to settle down first to think of how to deal with our problems. And where that is the case, unless we are shown mercy by Him, we may never escape from the ruins of our lives.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

Date: March 20, 2024|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 6, No. 45

“Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not? The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”” (Judg 20:26-28NIV)

Why did the Israelites go up to Bethel to weep before the Lord? It was because they had suffered defeat at the hands of the Benjamites two times in a space of two days. And why did they have to fight the Benjamites, who were Israelites like them?Well, according to the account, certain men of the tribe of Benjamin did something outrageous, something unheard of in the land. They raped a woman all night and left her for death. And they did that because they were unable to lay hands on the woman’s husband and rape him. So, there were sodomites in the land of Benjamin at the time. (Cf. Judges 19)

Now, because of that, the people of all the other tribes of Israel gathered together and demanded that the leaders of Benjamin should hand over those wicked people to be dealt with according to the Laws of Moses. But they refused. So, again, according to the Laws of Moses, the remaining people of Israel saw it as their obligation to punish the people of Benjamin for condoning wickedness among them. And they called their men to arms and moved out to fight them. (Cf. Deut 13:12-18)

But then, before they went to fight the Benjamites, they inquired of the Lord. Look at what is said in the bible about that: “The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”” (Judg 20:18NIV) Did the Lord answer them when they called to Him or not? He did! Yet, as the account further shows us, they lost that first battle against the Benjamites.

That, of course, made them weep before the Lord. But they did not give up. Instead, they inquired of Him again to know whether they should go to fight the Benjamites. And His response again was, “Go up against them.” Yet they lost the second battle as well. (Cf. Judges 20:19-25)What, then, was the problem? Was God being deceitful in dealing with these people? Was He deliberately luring them to destruction? At least, what they wanted to do was a good thing. They wanted to maintain justice and righteousness in their land. And that was in accordance with His law.

Why, then, would He disgrace them like that?Well, the answers to these questions and other related ones about the matter are all in the passage. Yes, they first inquired of the Lord about who should first attack the Benjamites. But they did not ask Him when they should attack them and whether they would succeed in the attack or not. So, it was only the question that they asked Him, perhaps using the Urim and Thummim that were with their high priest, that He answered. (Cf. Ex 28:30; 1Sam 28:6)

Also, when they asked God the second time if they should attack the Benjamites again, they did not ask when to attack them or what would be the outcome of the attack. They only wanted to know if it was right for them to attack them. And He answered the question they had asked Him, telling them that it was right for them to do so. But He did not answer the question they did not ask, which was whether they would succeed or not. Well, having lost terribly twice, as we are shown in our opening text, they approached God the third time about the same matter, asking the same insufficient question.

But this time, God showed them mercy and answered the more important question that they were not asking, which was, “Are we going to succeed in this attack or not?” God told them that they would succeed. And they did succeed.What is the point of this for us? It is that it is not enough for us to pray about a matter; we also need to pray and study the word of God adequately about it before jumping into conclusions. Yes, we need to ask God sufficient questions in prayer and in His word about any matter we are presenting to Him before concluding on any course of action about it. Otherwise, we may find ourselves injured while sincerely following God’s word or revelation.

And that we will be because we are running with insufficient revelation.See, the fact that something is good, right and in line with the will of God for us does not mean that we will meet with success and satisfaction while doing it. There are good things that we do not at the moment have sufficient strength to handle. And there are good things that the time is not yet ripe for us to do. If we, then, rush ahead to handle such good things without a sure conviction that God Himself is ready for them, we may find ourselves being confronted with forces too much for us to handle. And like the Israelites of that time, we may find ourselves being defeated back-to-back, even though God is on our side.

Now perhaps this is the situation we are dealing with in certain areas of our lives. Perhaps we have been having series of defeat where we believe we are in the will of God. We too, like those Israelites, should not allow discouragement to set in. Instead, we should turn to God again in prayer and in His word, so that we can get sufficient revelation of what is wrong and what needs to be done. And He will surely show us compassion and answer us.Cheers!

“Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel — loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?'” Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.”” (2Kings 8:9-11NIV)

There are all kinds of Scriptures that point to the fact that God loves to reveal His will to humans and to confide in them about what He is doing or what will happen in the future. He, in fact, invites us to call to Him and that He will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things we do not know (Jer 33:3).

Nevertheless, we also know from Scriptures and from experience that it is not everything happening in our lives or around us that God reveals to us in advance. For example, when the only son of the Shunamite woman died and she came to Elisha to protest about it, the man of God said this to Gehazi, who had wanted to drive her away: “…Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” (2Kings 4:27NIV)

Did you see that? Even though Elisha was an acclaimed prophet of God, there was things that God would not reveal to him. The death of that woman’s son was one of them. And not only did God not reveal to him that the boy was going to die young, He also did not tell him why He would not reveal it to him.

Well, the simple reason God would not reveal these things to him was that he could not handle His revelations about them. See, the fact that someone is a prophet does not mean that he can handle every revelation God gives to him. A true prophet of God can misrepresent God’s revelation or misapply it. And that may not be because he wants to deliberately do so but because he is ignorant of God’s purpose in revealing to him whatever he has revealed to him.

Our Lord Jesus, just before He went to the cross, said this to His disciples: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (John 16:12NIV) Did you see that? Even though the Lord was addressing His mighty apostles here, apostles that had ministered with Him for some years and had been used by God for many great things, He still made it clear to them that it was not everything He had in mind to tell them that they could bear. They, then, would have to wait until they received the Holy Spirit, who would progressively guide them into all truth, before they could know all that He intended to tell them (John 16:13).

In like manner, even if God has it in mind to show us something, He may still choose not to show us, if He is certain that we cannot handle it. So, if we are praying to Him to reveal certain things to us about a matter and He is not showing us anything, it may just be that we cannot handle what He is going to show us.

For instance, as we see in our opening text, when King Ben-Hadad wanted to find out from God through Elisha whether he was going to recover for his illness, the prophet told Hazael, the army general he had sent to him, that he should tell him that he would recover. But he also went on to tell Hazael that God had revealed to him that he would not recover.

Why, then, did he tell him not to disclose the truth to his master? Was it God that told him to say that? We don’t have any express answer to that question in the account. But it is safe to assume that Elisha told him to say that so that Ben-Hadad would not rush to select his successor, who would most likely be one of his sons.

And was anything wrong with that? No! However, according to the revelation given to Elisha, God had not chosen any of Beh-Hadad’s sons to be king after him. Instead, He had chosen Hazael, his army commander, to be his successor. It is possible, then, that he may hurry to choose a different successor for himself, if he got to know that he was going to die and not live. (Cf. 2Kings 8:13)

The question, then, is this: Supposing Ben-Hadad chose someone else as his successor instead of Hazael, would that have stopped God’s word from being fulfilled? No! As we see in the bible, even though King Saul did all he could to put his son, Jonathan, on the throne instead of David, the man anointed by God as his successor, he still failed. And the word of God came to pass.

So, even if Ben-Hadad had chosen someone else as king in Hazael’s place, God would still have put Hazael on the throne at the right time. Unfortunately, even though it is hard to say whether Elisha said too much to Hazael about the matter or not, the man could not handle the revelation given to him, the revelation that his master would die and that he would be king after him. How do we know that? We know because the account further shows us that he would not wait for his master to die peacefully in his bed. Instead, he assassinated him and announced himself to be king after his death. (Cf. 2Kings 8:14-15)

Therefore, even though this man became king as God had said, he did not become king according to His plans. So, he will surely stand someday before God’s throne to answer for his crime. But what if he had not been given a revelation of what was going to happen, would he have foolishly interfered with God’s plans the way he had done? No!

So, anytime God chooses not to reveal certain things to us, it is for our good. It is so that we will not, like Hazael or Rebekah, unduly interfere with His plans and mess things up for ourselves and others. We will do well, then, to accept and respect His decision to reveal or not to reveal certain things to us, instead of trying to pressure Him to reveal to us what we cannot handle. The consequences of acting like that will surely not be palatable for us to deal with. So, let us watch ourselves.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.” (Luke 23:50-54NIV)

You may have heard this before: “If you cannot beat them, join them.” In order words, if you cannot convince a group of people to see things or do things as you deem fit, you should forget about your own principles and join them. Why should be in the minority? Why should you stand all alone?

But nothing is with being in the minority, if the minority is right. Nothing is wrong with standing all alone, if you are convinced that you are standing for the right thing. And how will you know whether what you are standing for is right or wrong? It is by considering what God says about it. God is always the ultimate judge of what is right and what is wrong. So, if He says something is right, then, it is right, even if the whole world says it is wrong. And if He says something is wrong, then, it is wrong, regardless of what everyone else says about it.

Therefore, once you know what God has said about a matter, take your stand on it, even if it is going to make you unpopular. That is because God will never honour the majority just because it is the majority. He will only honour the majority because it is standing for what is right.

Now that, of course, does not mean that God will stop the majority from carrying out their desires. For instance, as we see in our opening text, it was the wish of the majority that prevailed when the religious leaders of the Jews sat in judgment over our Lord Jesus and not that of the minority. And did God stop the majority from carrying out their wish, even though it would result in the death of any innocent man? No! Instead, He allowed them to have their way in order to fulfil His divine purpose of salvation for humanity.

So, don’t think that God will surely stop the majority from doing what is wrong, simply because what they want to do is wrong. He may not stop them. However, He will surely take note of those who separate themselves from the majority that are bent on doing evil. And when the time of reckoning comes, it is such people who will not follow a crowd to do evil that will be praised and honoured by Him and not the hell-bent crowd.

As we again see in our opening bible text, it was not every one of the religious leaders of the Jews that condemned Jesus to death. Some would not follow the majority to do what was wrong. And one of them was a man named Jospeh from Arimathea. He publicly stood against other council men when they wanted to kill Jesus and would not cast his vote in their support. Besides, after Jesus had died on the cross, to prove that this man was utterly against the majority in killing him, he boldly went to meet Pilate to ask for his body, so that he may give him a befitting burial.

Now it is clear that Joseph’s refusal to join with other Jewish councilmen in condemning and killing Jesus did stop them from taking His life. However, it will always be on record with God and with men that he did not take sides with evil men in destroying an innocent person. And that is what God wants from each of us. The outcome of our decision to stand for what is right is not what is important to Him; rather, it is the devotion of our heart to stand for it that is important to Him. And it is that devotion that He is going to reward here in this world and also in His eternal kingdom.

So, don’t be afraid to separate yourself from a crowd or a majority that is bent on doing what is wrong, simply because the outcome will not favour you. No, don’t be afraid to ‘waste your vote’, as some will say, on what is right, as long as you are convinced it is what is right. Yes, of course, you may not have men’s praise or reward for doing that. But it will be on record with God and with men that when everyone else was going in the wrong direction, you chose to go in the right direction. And when the time is ripe, God will reward you for doing so.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her.” (Gen 34:1-2NIV)

Why did Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, go out to visit the women of the land of Shechem? It must have been because doing so seemed harmless. But by the end of that same day, she was no longer the same. She had been defiled and raped; she had been treated like a common sex slave.

Now who raped Dinah? It was a young man called Shechem. And what does the bible say about this young man? It says that he was the most honoured of all the members of his father’s household (Gen 34:19). That means he was an exception among them. It means that he was better than all of them in character and in conduct. So, in the eyes of the people of their city, he was the saint in that family, Saint Shechem.

Nevertheless, Saint Shechem was a rapist. Saint Shechem was not a man that would exercise patience and follow due process in securing the hand of a woman in marriage before having anything to do with her. If he wanted to have a woman, then, he must have her, even if raping her was the only way. Yet he was the most honourable of all the members of his family. What kind of people, then, would other members of his family be? Murderers! Assassins! Kidnappers! Drunkards! Robbers! Thieves! Homosexuals! Lesbians! Swindlers!

Well then, if someone has these kinds of people in his life as his family members, will it not be foolish or naïve of us to think of him as a good and honourable person? It will be. Yes, he may appear smooth, sweet and honest in talking and in showing care. But unless we have known him for a while as someone that takes God seriously and have also watched him consistently demonstrate godly character for a reasonable period of time, it will be naïve of us to think he is harmless.

Dinah was naïve to have thought of Saint Shechem as harmless. Truly, he may have been a smooth and cool young man. But the fact that all the members of his household were wicked and godless people was enough to make her stay away from him until she knew who he truly was. Yes, everyone in town spoke highly of him and thought of him as an exception in his father’s household. But who were these people that were speaking highly of him? Pagans! Lawless people!

If the town’s people of Shechem had not been idolatrous and lawless, they would have arrested and judged him the moment he raped another man’s daughter. But what did they do when they learnt of what he had done? Nothing righteous! They were all probably laughing among themselves and wondering how enjoyable raping Dinah must have been for him.

So, while it was utterly wrong of Saint Shechem to rape Dinah, it was Dinah’s own naivety that made what he did possible. Truly, her brothers later intervened and made sure she got justice for the harm she had suffered. But how did that change anything. The harm had already been done and she had to live and die with the consequences. (Cf. Gen 34:5-31)

What is the point of all this? Don’t be naïve. Don’t be ignorantly trusting. Someone may look charming and outwardly alright by all standards. It does not mean they cannot hurt you terribly. And people may be praising someone as the exception among their peers or counterparts. It does not mean they cannot injure or corrupt you.

See, the quality of a testimony is directly related to the reputation of the one giving it. So, when someone is being praised or recommended to you, look beyond what is being said about the person to the character of the one saying it. That is what will tell you how seriously you should take their testimony. Otherwise, you may have your life ruined on the basis of a corrupt testimony.

Now understand that it does not take forever to ruin a life. A few seconds are enough to ruin it, especially on this valentine day. So, look out for yourself.

Copyright © 2024, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”” (1Sam 16:7NIV)

Who is the Lord referring to here, in our opening text? He is referring to Eliab, Jesse’s eldest son and David’s eldest brother. And what does the Lord say about him to Samuel? He says I have rejected him. What has He rejected him for? He has rejected for kingship over Israel.

Now I am sure you know that you cannot say that you have rejected someone, if you have not yet considered him. So, the reason God freely said to Samuel that He had rejected Eliab as king over Israel was that He had already considered him. When did He consider him? We would not know. But it is clear from this text that God often carries out hidden examination on people. And when He is done, the result is what will determine whether He will exalt us, leave us where are, demote us or even extinguish us.

Remember King Belshazzar. Remember that on his last day here on earth God told him the following:

“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.” (Dan 5:26-28NIV)

When did God start numbering the days of this man’s reign? We would not know. And when did He begin to weigh his life and performance? We would not know. Everything was hidden from him and everyone else until the last few hours of his life. And even when it was made known to him that his time was up and that his kingdom and authority would be given to someone else, did he do anything to change God’s mind? No!

Why did he do nothing to change God’s mind and verdict concerning him? Did he not believe the words of Daniel, the man of God that explained this revelation to him? He believed them. Otherwise, he would not have celebrated and exalted him that day. Why, then, did he make no move to save himself? Perhaps he thought he still had more time to repent. Or perhaps he was ignorant of the forgiving nature of God. Whatever the case may be, he perished that same night because he had failed God’s examination. (Cf. Dan 5:29-31)

Well, the point of it all is that we all are under God’s examination, whether we are aware of it or not. And what He finds in us is what will determine what He does to us or with us when He is ready to judge. So, we need to constantly work towards being successful when examined by Him. Otherwise, God forbid, our fate may end up being like Eliab’s or Belshazzar’s.

But can we work towards passing God’s examination, if we don’t even know what He is looking for? What is He looking for in our lives? What is it that He wants to see in us in order to elevate us, prosper us or prolong our days here on earth? Is it our beauty, our colour, our language, our education, our wealth or our social status? No!

As we see in our opening text, it is man that looks at outward appearances – what God looks at is the heart. So, what is your heart? What is in my heart? When God saw pride in the devil, He brought him down. And when He saw greed in King Saul, He rejected him as king. We are not told what He saw in Eliab too that made Him reject him as king. But certainly, He must have seen in him something that should not be there or He must not have seen in him something that should be there.

My prayer, in any case, is that your heart will be rid of everything that may make God reject or cast you down and instead filled to overflowing with everything good and precious enough to make Him continually honour, lift and protect you. Amen.

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