He told the leaders of the empire to come. Come and worship! To refuse would mean their death.    Recently, we had a mother and her son over to our home for dinner. During dinner we asked her about her childhood, where she went to church and then how many children she had. The mother explained that she had several children and that her son was the third one born to her. At that point her son spoke up and said, “I want to be first!” There was a pause and then the mother said, “Oh, we are going through a phase.” Nebuchadnezzar was not going through a phase - he believed he was first! It must break the heart of God when we think we are better than others after God has used us.     Conclusion. We started this study with an illustration of Gregg (a fictitious name) and his emotional experience with God. As time passed he lost the sense of his spiritual experience. Why did this happen? May I suggest one reason? He was seeking an experience - the wonderful emotion he experienced during the retreat - and not God! I believe that Nebuchadnezzar missed the point and focused on the dream and not on God. He focused on the experience.     There is a recent Christian song that says, “We do not worship the worship.” But may I suggest that some of us do “worship the worship.” Most Christians come to church for at least two things - worship and “to have a spiritual experience.” We want our needs to be satisfied. Do you worship the worship? Do you worship a spiritual challenge? Or, do you meet with other Christians to seek and find God?     We can come to hear the teacher or the pastor give us an emotional charge and leave believing that we have met with God. We can chase an emotional experience and not God. Many enjoy serving in the church and yet find little or no time to be with God. Do you find reading the Bible, praying, or confessing your sins to be boring? May I ask, “Is God boring to you?” If so, we are chasing an emotional experience and not God Himself. If this is true, we are like the king. We are chasing after our own desire, our own need for significance, and our own emotional needs. We have sinned.     A farmer was walking with his friend in busy New York city. Suddenly, he said, “I hear a cricket - an insect.” “Oh, you are crazy,” his friend replied. The farmer insisted and then walking over to a planter he looked beneath a shrub and found the cricket. His friend was surprised. The farmer replied, “No, my ears are not different from yours. It simply depends on what you are listening for.” At that point the farmer reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins and dropped them onto the concrete. Almost every head on the corner turned. “You see what I mean?” said the farmer, “It all depends on what you are listening for?”   It all depends on what is important to you! What are you listening for? What are you looking for - an emotional experience or a love relationship with God? Jesus loves us and that is what He wants!                     < Back
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