"Do not look where you fell but where you slip"

I was reading the story of the Daniel to my kids last night after supper, the part where he was asked to interpret the writing that suddenly appeared on the palace wall. The king of Babylon was in terror, and rightfully so. He offered Dan everything He could to make things right but it was too late. 

Yes, it is true that the king had stepped over the line when he had a party with the golden vessels from the temple, and it is true that God righteously condemned Him and the Babylonian kingdom to the dust heap of history that very night. It was a huge error in judgment and the price that was paid was huge, yet it was not really the night of the party that was the real cause of the problem- that was just the time that the kingdom fell, not when they slipped.

The Babylonians really went wrong the day they decided to take those golden vessels from the Temple. It is true that God had given the people of Israel over to Nebuchadrezzar as punishment for not letting the land rest as He had commanded Israel , but God also set a trap for the Babylonians at the same time and the trap was those beautiful golden serving cups that the Babylonians wrongfully thought came as part of the deal. They didn't, they belonged to God and where sanctified for service to Him.

 The day they decided to take what God had not given them was the day they slipped, the fall 70 years later was just a matter of time.

There is a lesson in there for each of us. There are times we all get "caught" by God with our hand in the cookie jar and we suffer rightfully for it, the problem though usually starts long before the act. Too often the problem begins long before and unless we are aware of when it is we slip then we can never avoid the inevitable fall.

SO when the next time comes, we mistakenly think that it is the fall that we have to avoid and so unaware, we slip again. We don't even realize that it is then that our fate is sealed.

So pray that God may grant you the unusual ability to see the "slip", and change course quickly, before that inevitable fall takes its natural course.

-The Loan Arranger