Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel’s prophecies, and particularly those that involve timespan, have garnered great interest and led many down essentially unprofitable rabbit holes. However, this particular verse would seem to be pretty easy to understand, as well as glorious. It speaks of the status of those who wisely lead others into a right relationship with God. We rank people by various standards, and the foolishness of most of those is occasionally exposed. One party in the recent election relied heavily on celebrity endorsements, but that didn’t gain them victory. The American people are beginning to realize that just because someone is a skillful actor or singer doesn’t mean they are wise, and to be followed blindly. As this verse indicates, genuine wisdom means getting right with God and leading others to do the same. Actually, this truth is expressed elsewhere in the Bible as well, perhaps most famously in Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” The key to being right with God is faithfulness, listening to and obeying Him consistently, and Jesus said that will be abundantly rewarded. (Matthew 25) This verse from Daniel doesn’t mean that only evangelists will be rewarded, because there are many ways to lead others to righteousness. However, I don’t doubt that Billy Graham is a pretty bright star in God’s constellation! God has different tasks for each of us, and we please Him to the degree we fulfill the tasks He has laid out for us. Such people are wise and righteous, and lead others to be the same.

Of course, this applies to me just as it does to everyone. God is the judge of how bright or dim I will be! I don’t want my focus to be on my status, now or in eternity, but rather on my Lord, who is worthy of all devotion and honor and praise, and whose glory far outshines everyone and everything else anyway. I need to be fully obedient in everything the Lord shows me to do. I have been feeling an urging to turn my blog into a podcast, since many people are going completely audiovisual, rather than reading, but that seems somewhat daunting, since I know so little about setting something like that up. Talking, with or without a camera, has never been an issue for me, but the mechanics of it all give me pause. New things aren’t that exciting at my age! However, I need to be done with excuses, and focus on faithfulness to my Lord.

Father, thank You for this kick in the seat, so to speak. Help me be done with excuses and move into what You have for me to do, so that Your purposes for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!