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Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I have a question to begin our weekend: How do you measure SUCCESS? Much of the world is asking that about US Presidents these days as “the every four year” Presidential transition is about to take place, again. But let’s personalize the question… what about you and me; our marriages; our parenting; our careers; our legacies?
Yesterday I left you with Daniel as he was beginning a three year, intensive, forced Babylonian leadership training program. Daniel was a prisoner of war, taken forcibly from his home in Jerusalem in 605bc and now being trained, by officers of King Nebuchadnezzar, for overseeing his fellow Jewish captives in Babylon.
I believe Daniel was everyday wrestling with this same question: How do you measure success? Only in Daniel’s case he was living two opposing lives!
First, Daniel had been working hard to be a success in God’s eyes as a God honoring Jewish young man preparing to be a future leader of God’s people in Jerusalem.
But now Daniel was being forced to pursue another goal…being successful in wicked King Nebuchadnezzar’s estimation so he could be used in the Babylonian attempt to conquer and control the entire world!
How does a person pursue success in two opposing endeavors simultaneously? Have you ever found yourself in such a challenge where your personal ambitions and your spiritual ambitions and also the expectations of your boss or even extended family and friends all run counter or opposing to each other?
I imagine this was a daily challenge for Daniel as he worked hard to study and learn the Babylonian language, history, literature, values, leadership style and even religion. He and all his fellow trainees knew that at the end of their 3-year training program each of them would stand before King Nebuchadnezzar himself, the most powerful man in the world, and Nebuchadnezzar would test them with questions.
The results of that interview would determine their future…alive or dead, slave or leader. Can you imagine the pressure? But for Daniel it was an even more intense pressure cooker for Daniel’s highest priority had not changed since he was a little boy. Daniel was determined to know the Jewish God, to understand God’s character and His laws and His expectations of those who would live lives which honored God. Daniel was determined to learn how to discern God’s guidance so he could make life choices which kept him aligned with the heart of God.
How does all that compare to your heart and mine, my friends? What about our pursuits for success, are they aligned with God’s plans for us?
Finally, Daniel’s 3-year training was complete, and Daniel gives us this account of his day of reckoning with King Nebuchadnezzar: “At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them and found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, so they entered the king’s service. In every manner of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, Nebuchadnezzar found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom!“ (Dan. 1:18-20)
It appears Daniel and his three Jewish friends were very successful in their training program, do you agree? You’ll remember yesterday we saw in Daniel 1:17 that God Himself had blessed these four young Jewish men with “knowledge and understanding of all kinds of learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.” Yes, they graduated at the top of their Babylonian Leadership training course and were brought into the service of King Nebuchadnezzar! But does that seem confusing to you?
Why would God allow Daniel and his young Jewish friends to be taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar’s army when it ransacked Jerusalem in 605bc? Why would God actually bless Daniel and his friends with superior learning capability while in training in wicked Babylon to be leaders in Nebuchadnezzar’s attempt to conquer the world?
The answer my friends is that there are two God designed achievements greater than success, did you know that?
The first is SIGNIFICANCE! Daniel and his three friends were positioned by King Nebuchadnezzar into very SIGNIFICANT LEADERSHIP roles in Babylon! Eventually, as they proved themselves trustworthy and unusually wise, Nebuchadnezzar promoted them to be among the highest ranking of all leadership in the Babylonian empire! God had positioned them in those very SIGNIFICANT leadership roles!
But there is yet one more elevation that is even more important than SIGNIFICANCE which God was preparing for Daniel. It is the position of STRATEGIC! Daniel concludes his first chapter record with this statement: “And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus!” (Daniel 1:21) Daniel concluded his 3-year Babylonian training program in 602bc and King Cyrus the Persian Emperor came to power in 538bc as the Persians conquered the Babylonians! Do the math friends!
This means God positioned Daniel as a strategic senior advisor to the most powerful rulers in the world for 64 years!!!
By the way, the rulers Daniel advised are these:
* Nebuchadnezzar (605-562bc)
* Amel-marduk (561-560bc)
* Nergal-shar-usur (559-556bc)
* Nabonidus (556-539bc) & Belshazzar (553-539bc) (co-regents)
* Cyrus the Persian (538 bc -?)
So today I leave you with the question I asked as we began: How do you measure your Success? And now what about measuring your Significance and your Strategicness? How do you think God measures your Success, Significance and Strategicness in HIS greater and global purposes? Now that’s a lot to ponder isn’t it. I think NO song today, but I urge you to spend some time in prayer asking God to help you see HIS perspective on your life in the past and in 2025!!
Today’s Scripture: Daniel 1:18-21.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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