In the Bible there is an account of a great king, Nebuchadnezzar who ruled over Babylon. He was a great ruler, warrior and architect. He built temples, erected statues, and canals through his city which also had a great processional way. The walls of Babylon were the marvel of the ancient world. Perhaps you've heard of the hanging gardens of Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar built those. In Scripture and in other ancient literature it is recorded of him that he boasted arrogantly against the true God and all the gods and religions of that time. He bragged of his accomplishments and gloried in the great power he enjoyed and exerted however he pleased.
The Bible records that although he was warned by God in a dream that was interpreted for him by the prophet Daniel, he was not moved. He continued boasting, disregarding God and mocking, until one day he was stricken with a form of insanity. For seven long years, Nebuchadnezzar wandered around in the fields like a beast. He lost his position, his accomplishments, all his splendor and glory. They were all gone as he raved in the wilderness in the grip of madness. Then Scripture records that on a particular day, for no particular reason, he looked up. In his own words, " I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him Who lives forever..." When he looked up to heaven, he came to his senses, and gave thanks to God recognizing His Lordship and eternal power.
I think we can learn much from this record. Like him, we have accomplished great things. Our nation like Babylon is the envy of the world for much greater reasons. Yet, we are in a time when we need once again to lift our eyes toward heaven. In our national mindset we mention God, prayers, sanctity of life, and we can speak many religious buzzwords that we all know. Yet we have forgotten that God and His Christ are enthroned in heaven and rule with ultimate power and authority. We are in need of recovering our reason.
Nebuchadnezzar recovered when he honored God. Persons and nations can do the same. In our time we are allowing and promoting confusion of the most serious kinds, and have descended into a national insanity that allows irrational reasoning and behaviors to be promoted as normal, and right. The fact is that they are symptoms of madness, born of an arrogant rejection of the One True God. We don't realize that in the rejection of the God of the Bible, we are rejecting reality itself and are losing our grip on sanity even as we watch the symptoms of insanity all around us.
How do we,"lift our eyes toward heaven?" We begin by acknowledging our wrongs, realizing that we have sinned against God, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We then lift our eyes to Jesus Christ. He is God's provision for the sin of which we are all guilty. There is no honoring God without honoring Jesus as Lord and Savior. He paid the full price for all of our sins.
Nebuchadnezzar was one person who came to his senses but his kingdom felt the impact of his decision. Our road to recovery begins one person at a time. Is that person you? Believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Honor Him as God. Lift you eyes toward heaven and see how reasonable His teachings really are. You will experience the stability of mind, heart and soul that only come from God through faith in Christ. Our nation needs reasonable men and women of God like never before.
Become one of them. Perhaps your influence will help restore reason to this nation which is so wonderfully blessed by God!
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