Daniel 5-6  Some 23 years after the incident with Nebuchadnezzar and the statue, Belshazzar, his grandson or great-grandson.. decided to take the gold and silver vessels from the Temple and use them for his party.  The crowd toasted the gods and goddesses of "gold and silver, bronze, iron , wood and stone.."  What happened next was extraordinary .  A hand appeared.. writing 4 words on the plaster wall in the palace.  " Mine, Mine, Tekel, Upharsin".   When no one else could interpret, Daniel was called in and gave the interpretation.  " Mine - God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Tekel - you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.  Peres- your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians. "

The message was very clear - Belshazzar was proud and foolish. He did not acknowledge the God Most High like his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar had.  He exalted himself " against the Lord of heaven.. the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified." 

"Numbered" and "weighed".. When it came to what mattered.. to what counted.. Belshazzar didn't add up to anything of worth.  That very night, he was slain by the invading Medes.

Somehow this passage always makes me think of the time when Jesus wrote in the sand after the Pharisees had brought before Him a woman caught in adultery.  He also numbered and weighed the accusers.. finding them unworthy.. deficient .. lacking that which counts the most.   Instead of justice, they chose to punish the woman and let the man go.  Instead of mercy, they chose to humiliate and judge her harshly.  They wanted to test and harm the reputation of the Holy One.. and they used a poor woman to do it.  Like Belshazzar, they did not glorify the God in whose Hands their life-breath was held.

One thing that we desire the most as followers of Christ is to be worthy of His calling.. to be "good and faithful servants"... to be all that He calls us to be.  Daniel is a man who lived that kind of life.
Even though it meant spending a night in a lion' s den.. Daniel chose to stay faithful.  May we also be found of worth in the balance of our God. 

Father in heaven .. fill us with the knowledge of Your will, through all wisdom and understanding, so that we may live a life worthy of our Lord, pleasing You in every good work, bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, and being strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might.  I ask this in the Name of the Infinite and Merciful Savior, Jesus. Amen.