“Passing The Test”

Tests are a part of life. It begins in school with written tests meant to show whether we understand what has been taught to us. Sometimes it is reciting back the textbook or teacher’s thoughts and sometimes in an essay it is putting our own ideas into it by writing what it means to us.

Some tests count little. A “pop” quiz meant to keep us on our toes and do our homework regularly. Its point value is small in the larger scheme of total points but it still matters.

Some tests count a lot. In Law School doing assignments throughout the term just qualified me to take the final. The only thing that mattered for the grade was the four hour final exam. All the pressure was there. Bad day? Too bad. Feeling sick? Didn’t matter. The only thing that was important was the grade gotten on that one test on that one day.

Outside of school comes the test of interviewing. People talk to you, look at your resume, and check a few references and decide whether or not you pass their test and get the job.

In a relationship the test may be how we get along with someone, what we look like, our sense of humor (or lack thereof).

In the Bible, King Belshazzar of Babylon had a test. It was his life. Everyday the test took place and one day the results were posted. But he didn’t understand the results.

They were posted on the wall for all to see, written by a human hand on the plaster wall of his palace. “The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fear. Such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him.” (Daniel 5:5b-6) Now I have been bothered a few times by my test results but so far at least my legs haven’t given way beneath me.

When did this writing take place? It came in the middle of a great feast. The king and a thousand of his nobles were drinking wine. King Belshazzar ordered the cups brought in that had been taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Then the writing on the wall began.

The king didn’t know what the writing meant and neither did his wise men. But his Mom knew who to ask. It was like she found a tutor for her son. His name was Daniel and he had helped King Nebuchadnezzar. This time Daniel refuses a gift for telling what the writing meant.

And what did it mean? First Daniel reviews that King Nebuchadnezzar had been full of pride and been stripped of his glory for a time until he learned that the Most High God rules the kingdoms of the world. Then Daniel continues that this King, King Belshazzar, did not humble himself and defied the Lord of heaven by bringing in the Temple cups and praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. He hadn’t honored the true God.

What about the test results? Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. Mene means “numbered”—God numbered the days of his reign and had brought it to an end. Tekel means “weighed”—he was weighed on the balances and failed the test. Parsin means “divided”—his kingdom was divided and given to someone else.

The end of his days as king and the loss of the kingdom were the results of his life of following false gods. But what strikes me the most is “tekel.” This word meaning weighed brings me back to the concept of testing. He was weighed on the balances and failed the test.

This test mattered…this test matters, to each of us. When we are weighed on the balances will we fail the test? Will our days of being the king of our lives end and all that we have worked for, our kingdom, go to others?

A better result is to understand that the only one worthy of being on the throne of our lives is the one true God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. We have no kingdom of our own to pass on to others. We have his kingdom within us and the ability to invite others to let Jesus reign in their lives as well.

Then when we are weighed on the balances we will not fail the test. We will pass…from this life to the next and enjoy the kingdom as God intended. We will drink from the royal cups and feast at the king’s banquet table as we praise and worship the King of Kings forever.

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