What Will Your Children Learn From You?

Reading about king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2 today, I found some interesting things. First, king Nebuchadnezzar was "into" sorcerors, magicians, and astrologers. Then when Daniel interpreted his dream, he worshipped Daniel instead of the Lord.

After this, Nebuchadnezzar makes an image of gold. In verse 19, we see that Nebuchadnezzar was "full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed" because he was so angry that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wouldn't worship the image. When he saw that the fiery furnace had no effect on them, he changed his thinking again. He made "a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." (Wow! Try to top that description!)

Nebuchadnezzar sounds like a very flamboyant person, very volatile and dramatic. But, he is willing to make changes. In Daniel 4:37, he decides, "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth..."

I wonder if this decision, to worship the true God, came rather late in his life. It seems that what his son Belshazzar learned was the very same thing that Nebuchadnezzar began with. In Daniel 5, we see how Belshazzar, "cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers..." Looks like things came full circle in this family.

This makes me want to pay special attention to what my kids are learning from me. I have to ask myself if I am being teachable. Am I learning lessons quickly? Am I wading through some untruths that may seem completely obvious to others? Do I take the time to truly get it, or am I floundering around from one wrong thing to another when the truth is staring me in the face?