Keep your money

“Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.” - Daniel 5v17

Twenty years had passed since Nebuchadnezzar had accepted the true God. His son (or grandson) was on the throne and he decided to throw a huge party. During the feast they used some of the sanctified vessels from the Temple and the party declined into debauchery and the worship of pagan gods.

Suddenly a hand appeared and starting writing on the wall. Belshazzar and the others were petrified and they didn’t know what the message meant. The wise men were called in and they couldn’t figure it out either. Finally someone remembered Daniel and he was called before the king.

Of course Daniel knew the meaning, but before we get to that I want to notice something special about Daniel’s character. Belshazzar offered Daniel all kids of wealth and riches to tell him the meaning, but Daniel was not interested. He did not think it wise to accept money to give God’s message to the king. He did not want any question that he was being bought. “Keep your money, give it to someone else, I will tell you the meaning.”

I am impressed that Daniel refused all of the wealth he was offered. He knew that God would take care of him if he was faithful. The king had no real power over him and he wanted everyone to know it.

As God’s people we need to be sure that we don’t have a price – we can’t be bought. We also need to be careful of our testimony before the world in this regard.