I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

     Once Darius had conquered Babylon he divided his kingdom into 120 provinces and appointed a governor over each province. He then appointed Daniel and two others as something akin to an Inspector General to audit how the governors exercised their authority. Because Daniel was effective at this job, the king made plans to give him authority over the entire kingdom. The other officials and administrators began looking for ways to diminish Daniel’s influence. They were unable to find fault (at least what the king would have considered fault) with anything about the way Daniel carried out his official duties. Since they could not find anything wrong with the way he did his job, they decided to attack Daniel on the basis of his religion. But they could not attack him directly, so they went to King Darius and told him how wonderful he was. They recommended that he pass a law that for thirty days, no one could pray to anyone but him on pain of being thrown into a den of lions and told him that they supported it unanimously (they failed to tell him that they obtained that unanimity by not inviting anyone who might have disagreed). King Darius was convinced by their flattery. I don’t know about you, but this is sounding familiar. Time and again I see prominent figures attacked for their beliefs when those beliefs have little to do with the job those people do (except possibly making them better at it).
     What was Daniel’s response to this new law? It was to continue worshiping in the manner that he had always done. He changed nothing. He did not even attempt to be more secretive about his actions. The other officials went to his house and caught him violating the new law. They brought him before Darius and demanded that the king enforce the law. King Darius immediately realized what had happened and began looking for a loophole that would allow him to let Daniel off. The officials insisted that the king enforce the law and because he could find no loophole he gave the order for Daniel’s arrest. Just before having him placed in the den of lions the king told Daniel that he hoped that the God Daniel served would rescue him.
     The king spent the night in fasting and refused to sleep. In the morning he went to the lions’ den and called out for Daniel. Daniel answered the king and told him that God had kept the lions from harming him. The king ordered Daniel brought forth from the den. The king then ordered that those who had been behind the plot against Daniel be arrested and thrown into the lions’ den. The lions immediately attacked and ate them, demonstrating that Daniel’s safety was not the result of the lions not being aggressive against humans or not hungry.

     In this passage Peter addresses the issue of the Lord’s return. First he tells us that some will scoff. The scoffers will question why Jesus has not yet returned and suggest that this is because He is not coming back. Peter reminds us that God destroyed the Earth once already with a flood and that He is going to destroy it a second, and final, time with fire. We must not forget that time does not mean the same thing to God as it does to us. God does not perceive time the way that we do. A thousand years looks no different than a day to God. I believe that what Peter is saying here can be compared to talking about a map. On a map of a state, there is no distinction between an inch and a thousand feet, both are too small to be separated out. When I tell you that two places are close together, if you do not know the scale of the map I am using, you will not be able to judge just how far apart they are. For example, to someone in California, Washington, DC and New York City are close to each other, but to someone in Baltimore, MD they are quite a distance apart. So Peter is telling us that Jesus is not being slow in returning, it is just that we do not understand the scale on which He is measuring time.
     God is not being slow in bringing about the judgment. He is being patient. He wishes to give everyone an opportunity to repent. He wants to give us time to reach out to our friends and neighbors and perhaps convince them to turn from sin to following Him. However, the day of Jesus return will come without additional warning. Since everything in this world is going to be destroyed, we should live our live accordingly. Let us live recognizing that the material things of this world are temporary and thus willingly sacrifice them in order to accumulate honors that are eternal. I will strive to live a peaceful life that is pure and blameless before God. In the meantime, I will use the time that God has given me to attempt to convince others to turn from their sins, praying that the Holy Spirit will move in their lives and show them God’s path.

     God’s instructions are wonderful and following them gives me joy. They are straightforward and uncomplicated such as even those who are not very bright can understand what God wants from them. I am saddened by those who choose to ignore God’s instructions, both for the grief they inflict on others and for that which they inflict on themselves. God’s commands lay out the path to joy, happiness and fulfillment. They are trustworthy and thoroughly tested. We may not understand why God calls for us to behave as He does, but we can have confidence that it is the best path for us to follow. I will continue to pray to God that He give me the strength and courage to do as He commands.

     It is never good to show favoritism, yet there are people who will do wrong for the pettiest of rewards. Attempting to get rich quick is a sure route to poverty. The timing on this second could not be more perfect for me. I am reading it (and writing this) while there is lots of buzz over the size of the PowerBall Lottery prize. Many have chosen to buy tickets in the hope of getting rich quick.