The time is always right to do what is right.
—MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
At the hospital with Keith—not good,” the text read.
I had just arrived at our church for an all-staff meeting when I received this text from Layne Schranz, one of our pastors. He was at a nearby hospital checking on Keith Lindsey, another one of our pastors and a valued member of our team. Keith had been battling multiple myeloma, cancer of the blood, but last we had heard his prognosis was good because the prescribed treatment had been effective. We had been praying for Keith and were excited about him coming home from the hospital and getting to be back at church with us. As I texted with Layne, however, it was clear Keith had taken a turn for the worse. At first his doctors had been confident Keith’s body could handle the ongoing treatment, but this no longer seemed to be the case.
“Do I need to come?” I texted to Layne.
“No, I think he’s fine.”
Minutes later Layne texted, “He’s not doing well all of a sudden!”
“What happened?” I asked. “Keep me posted.”
Less than ten minutes later: “He’s gone.”
“What?!!” I texted back. “I’ll be right there.”
And just like that, our beloved friend and associate pastor was in heaven. I’ve been in ministry for thirty-three years and, sadly, have experienced many situations like this. But never had I seen a situation pivot so quickly, without warning. We thought Keith was out of the woods and on his way home. And he was, only he went to his eternal home, not the one here on earth.
Once again I was reminded, as I always am when experiencing or leading others through this kind of loss, just how short life can be on this side of eternity. The truth is, our days here on earth are numbered. As much as we may not like keeping this fact in mind, remembering that our days are numbered can keep us focused on making the most of the time we have.
Handwriting
What does this have to do with the book of Daniel? What does this have to do with living a stand-up life in a bow-down world? What correlation is there between our time on earth and the shifting of our culture? Everything!
Remember, the book of Daniel is in the prophecy section of Scripture in the Old Testament. It not only tells us stories of what happened to Daniel and the people of Israel during their captivity in Babylon, but it also serves as a prophetic picture of our lives today. It warns, informs, and encourages believers to live a godly life in an ungodly culture, a field guide for living in the last days.
Let me remind you about what we’ve covered so far. In part 1 of this book we explored how the Babylonian culture attacked the identity of their Hebrew prisoners of war. The hedonistic captors tried to rename them, tame them, and claim them. Still today, our identities are the battleground for culture’s attack. In part 2 we saw how Daniel and his friends were challenged on who and what they would and would not worship—which remains culture’s greatest test. Pride, culture’s greatest sin, was the subject of part 3.
And now in part 4, I want to focus on what I believe to be culture’s greatest illusion—the twin culprits of deception and distraction. These culture-colored glasses cause us to fail tests, worship false idols, live in pride, and errantly view our time in this life. I’m convinced the order of the book of Daniel is just as prophetic as its core message. As we look at another chapter describing Daniel’s time in Babylon, it’s clear God still speaks to us today just as he warned King Belshazzar. Here’s how it went down:
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.
The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” (Dan. 5:1–7)
The king’s wise men came in, and they couldn’t translate the strange writing that had mysteriously appeared from the floating hand. This sounds like something out of an Edgar Allan Poe story—but this actually happened! I’ve always wondered if this was a giant-sized hand or just a regular-sized one. And did it look wispy and ghostlike or was it more like “Thing” on The Addams Family? Whatever it looked like, it sure shook up old Belshazzar! His knees were knocking, and yours and mine probably would have been too. When his consultants failed to translate the writing, the queen remembered Daniel and had him brought in.
So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” (Dan. 5:13–16)
Daniel came in and assessed the situation, and he essentially told Belshazzar, “Look, you can keep your gifts. I’ll tell you what this message says, but you probably won’t like it.” We’re told that this new king reminded Daniel of the previous king, Belshazzar’s father, Nebuchadnezzar, who didn’t listen to God’s warnings either and went insane for seven years before he repented and God restored him. Like father, like son, right?
Daniel told Belshazzar that, like his dad, he had allowed his pride and arrogance to get in the way:
Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription. (Dan. 5:23–24)
Like many phrases and verses derived from the Bible, the saying “the handwriting is on the wall” has become a common colloquialism meaning “imminent doom.” It’s like a warning label stuck to the side of your life. When the handwriting’s on the wall, it means everyone can see that disaster is about to happen. Something heavy is about to drop.
In fact, if we look closely at Daniel’s translation of what was written, we can see both a warning of coming punishment for Belshazzar and several key principles about how we are to live in the last days to avoid a similar punishment in eternity. Remember, Daniel is a prophetic book, and the handwriting remains on the wall for us today. Our lives are slipping through our hands like water, and if we don’t slow down and refocus on what matters most, we will lose something precious and irreplaceable. But it’s not too late—yet. So let’s spend the rest of this chapter unpacking the first principle and then examine the others in the two remaining chapters in part 4.
Your Days Are Numbered
“This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN” (Dan. 5:25). Keep in mind that this message was supernatural in origin; while some scholars believe these words are Aramaic in origin, God basically created his own language for this inscription, knowing that his man Dan would be the only one capable of translating it. Daniel’s translation—and ours—zeroes in on the fuller meaning behind the three words, the first of which is repeated: “Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end” (Dan. 5:26). The Hebrew word that Daniel chose for his translation of God’s message, mene, literally meant “numbered.” And for added emphasis—it’s repeated.
Only following God and living for him provides the kind of deep significance we crave and were created to enjoy.
It’s a caution flag that continues to flutter today in the shifting winds of our culture, and its message is simple: Don’t forget that your days are numbered. But somehow, that’s exactly what we often do. We live like there’s no tomorrow, literally, and we only want to “eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). But God’s Word tells us that “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Heb. 9:27). And the truth is, death could happen at any time.
Belshazzar’s greatest sin was how he wasted his life. He didn’t realize that his life was short in the context of eternity. If he had grasped this truth, then he would have chosen to live for God instead of himself. When we realize that our days are numbered, then we realize the need to make them count. Only following God and living for him provides the kind of deep significance we crave and were created to enjoy.
If we lived with the truth that we have a finite amount of time, a limited number of days, then we would make better decisions. Anytime you think you have more of something than you need, you tend to waste it. It’s just the logic of human nature. If you have plenty of food in your pantry, cupboard, and fridge, it’s hard to imagine being hungry. If there’s lots of money in your bank account, then you feel like you’ll always have enough. But when you’re down to your last box of crackers or last dollar, suddenly these things become precious. You no longer take them for granted. When we recognize our limitations, we tend to make the most of our lives.
This truth jumped out at us a few years ago when we did a series at our church called 30 Days to Live. Basically, we asked people how they would assess their lifestyles, relationships, and daily choices if they were told they only had a month left to live. It remains a powerful, revealing exercise. What would you start doing if you only had thirty days left? What would you stop doing if that was all the time remaining in your life? How would you spend those limited, precious few weeks? Who would you want to spend them with?
When we recognize our limitations, we tend to make the most of our lives.
As part of the series, I interviewed several people whose doctors had told them they had a short amount of time to live. These were real testimonies of people who had literally been given a “death date” that was quickly approaching. With this kind of urgency front and center, they shared a very different perspective on their priorities than most people have.
These individuals revealed how so many things that used to matter suddenly didn’t seem important at all anymore. And many of the things they used to not have time for suddenly became part of every remaining day. Because they had a limited amount of time, they knew they couldn’t waste a moment. When we live with this perspective, we can face the shifts of culture with a different attitude—one of clarity and focus on what matters most, one that sets aside the distractions this world offers and keeps our eyes on God.
If Belshazzar had this kind of perspective, then the last thing he probably would have been doing was partying and mocking God. But if we jump to the end of his story, we see his time ran out.
Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two. (Dan. 5:29–31)
It was too late for Belshazzar, but if you’re reading this right now, then you still have time. Time to change and realign your life around what God wants. To be the person he created you to be.
To stand apart from the cultural chaos.
To live for your God.
To heed his message.
Live Like You’re Dying
If you want to stand strong in a bow-down world, if you want to put God first in your life, you need to start right now.
First, choose to live every day with a sense of purpose and urgency. Live as though you have limited time—because you do!
Let’s revisit the questions we asked in our church’s 30 Days to Live series. Just think for a moment: What activities would you eliminate if you lived with the end in mind? Less time surfing online? Fewer pics posted on Instagram? Not as much overtime at work? If you knew you only had thirty days to live, what would you stop doing and what would you start doing instead?
Whenever I think about living with a sense of urgent purpose, my father-in-law, Billy, always comes to mind. He knew how to make every single moment count for eternity. The man was literally on his deathbed, but he was still using his time in this life to influence God’s kingdom. Billy had more than three hundred visitors come to see him during the last few weeks of his life. And he definitely ministered more to them than they ministered to him. Ministering to others was life for him. So he spent time with each person, talking and praying for them, encouraging them. He remains a role model for me in making the most of the time we’re given.
Next, put first things first. Make sure your priorities really are front and center each day. Don’t put off focusing on the people and principles that matter most to you. Regularly check on how you’re spending your time, and reorder your schedule as needed. And, yes, I know this is easier said than done! Putting first things first means you must stop the constant push and pull for more. What the world and others around you consider urgent is rarely truly urgent. What matters most for God’s kingdom, for making the most of the life he’s given you—that’s what’s urgent.
The solution is simple but an ongoing battle: you must say no! When you’re tempted to hold a grudge against a loved one or feel sorry for yourself, then you must think, No! Ain’t nobody got time for that. With the days I have left, I’m going to live my life for God, for what matters the most to me. The psalmist said, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should” (Ps. 90:12 TLB).
The secret to focusing on first things is maintaining order, keeping our priorities in the right sequence. Our perspective on order determines our capacity. Jesus talked about this principle in his famous sermon:
So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt. 6:31–33)
Jesus is saying that more will happen, more will get done, when we put him first in our lives. When we keep order in our daily lives, then we keep our priorities clear. Order communicates priority. As Christians, we can be really busy doing a lot of good stuff for the wrong reasons. We slip into a mind-set of doing more so that we can feel like we’re closer to God or better Christians. But if we’re not spending one-on-one, intimate time with God each day and then acting out of the overflow of that relationship rather than the other way around, then we have lost sight of why we’re doing all that we’re doing. One thing must come first and lead to the other. The order can’t be flipped.
Whatever we put in first place becomes the organizing principle for the other parts of our lives. Think of it like an outline for those papers you had to write in school. When you focus on your guiding principle, it automatically takes care of many other decisions. We’re told, “In all your ways submit to him. . . . Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Prov. 3:6, 9–10). This passage may be about money, but the principle is true for all things.
As Christians we can be really busy doing a lot of good stuff for the wrong reasons.
One of my favorite illustrations of this principle came from a business seminar I attended in Colorado many years ago. It made a huge impact on me, so I often include it whenever I teach on the way order influences the rest of our lives. I take two gallon-sized glass jars and fill one about three-quarters full with the little gravel that goes into aquariums. Then I’ll have about seven or eight big rocks at least the size of my fist or larger.
The gravel represents all the “little things” in our day—texting, shopping, waiting in line at Starbucks, watching TV, ordering from Amazon, all the stuff we do on any given day. And the bigger rocks represent our main priorities: our relationship with God, our relationships with our spouses and kids, our commitment to exercise and having healthy bodies, our dedication to our careers, to serving others, to friendships—whatever our other priorities happen to be.
The funny thing, though, is that when you try to put your “priority rocks” into the jar that’s already close to full of gravel, there’s not enough room. All your priorities can’t be squeezed into your life when it’s full of daily “gravel.” But when the priority rocks are placed in the jar first, and then the gravel is poured on top, they all fit—there may even be room left over.
Order matters! When you make sure you put your priorities first, the rest of your life will wrap around and fill in the gaps. But it won’t work the other way. You have to put priorities ahead of the little stuff.
And what should be our greatest priority? Jesus gave us the answer: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). Most of us know the importance of ordering our lives around our principles and priorities, but we let the culture and so many other distractions squeeze them out. But our days are limited. How we spend our time matters. Let’s reorder our lives so we live on purpose every day.
The Time Is Now
As a pastor, I do a lot of funerals, and while I try to personalize each service to honor the person and comfort the family as much as possible, my message is fundamentally the same for each one. I call it the “heavenly perspective.” This is the choice you make to try and see things from an eternal perspective when your experience here on earth hurts so much. The heavenly perspective reminds you that one day it will all make sense. One day this loss will no longer hurt this way. One day your troubles will fade away, and there will be no more problems.
Now, I realize it’s hard to have this perspective without having been to heaven yet. But that’s why we have testimonies in the Bible from some who have. In Scripture we find accounts from three people who saw heaven. Jesus, of course, talked more about heaven than anyone else, which makes sense because he lived there before he came to earth. Heaven was his first home. Jesus said that we don’t need to be afraid of what happens to our physical bodies. The tragedy of dying is not losing your physical body but missing heaven if you didn’t choose God here on earth.
When Jesus encouraged people during his ministry, it was always with heaven and never with the now. In the book of John, for example, he said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms” (John 14:1–2). He told us not to let our hearts be troubled, not because there’s an answer on the way, but because of heaven. Christ offers more than a better now; he offers us the best place ever.
The apostle Paul also saw heaven in a vision. When his enemies threatened to kill him, Paul basically said, “Would you? Please?” He wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). It was actually a dilemma for Paul to continue living, considering that he knew heaven was his final home. He considered his options the ultimate win-win: he could live for Christ on earth or die and be with Christ in heaven.
John the Beloved also gave us his perspective on heaven in Revelation. He wrote, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (21:4). John knew that God created us to be with him in heaven. That’s why we can never find ultimate satisfaction here on earth.
Some people would rather hear me talk about making everything work here on earth in this life rather than keeping our eyes on what is to come in heaven, but that’s not the way God’s plan works. God’s plan has always been a rescue mission, to bring us home to heaven. All throughout the Bible, we’re told to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things. In the “Faith Hall of Fame” passage in Hebrews, we’re reminded that although the saints before us experienced many amazing miracles, nothing compares with their ultimate reward: being with God in heaven. “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better . . .” (11:39–40).
Christ offers more than a better now; he offers us the best place ever.
My friend, eternity is closer than you can possibly imagine. Our days are numbered. Like Belshazzar, today might be our last day in this life. I pray that it’s not, but we all need to consider the realistic possibility, especially in the world we live in today. One of the worst things we can do is put off living for God until it’s too late.
Many people live in what I call the “when . . . then” syndrome. We make living our lives deliberately conditional on some future goal or event. We refuse to make the most of today because we’re waiting on something that may or may not happen. We say things like:
One day when I get married, then I will be happy.
One day when I get the right home,
then I’ll lead a small group.
One day when I get out of debt, then I’ll start to tithe.
One day when the kids are grown, then
we’ll work on our marriage.
But “one day” has to be today! It’s too easy to live in a time other than the right-now. Paul reminds us in his letter to the church in Corinth, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Now is the time for us to get right with God. His favor is now. His salvation is now.
Don’t wait; don’t put it off.
Do it now.