URC Daily Devotion 20 August 2024

Daniel 2: 46 – 49

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshipped Daniel, and commanded that a grain-offering and incense be offered to him. The king said to Daniel, ‘Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery!’ Then the king promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

Reflection

Let’s be honest here… I picked this passage not because it spoke to me about some deep and undeniable truth but because it was the shortest available. I’m lazy, I admit it. I want to be involved with this project, but I don’t want to have to work too hard at it. I’ll leave the difficult stuff to others. 

I wonder if Daniel felt the same? He was given a job to do – but got others to do it for him whilst he remained in Nebuchadnezzar’s court after his promotion to be showered with gifts and praise by the king. 
Perhaps we should be focussing on Daniel being a wise leader in subcontracting the day-to-day stuff to others whilst he reaped the benefits, that his ability to delegate made others better, gave them a chance to shine and develop.

Or, perhaps, we should acknowledge that Daniel liked the good life too much to move away from comfort and opulence and put in the hard miles and so got others to do that stuff for him.

We can spin it however we like, to make the point we want to make.

I won’t spin it, though. I’m lazy. I don’t want to get my hands too dirty. I’m happy to let someone else die for my sins. I’m content in the knowledge that, whilst I’m concerned about injustice and unfairness and wish it was ended, there are others who will fight that fight on my behalf allowing me to watch their efforts on the news between binge-watching episodes of the latest Netflix blockbuster. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

I know which Daniel I am. Which Daniel are you?

Prayer

Disturbing God
Shake me from my complacency and inaction.
Amen