Daniel 12:3–4: “Those who are wise shall shine / Like the brightness of the firmament, / And those who turn many to righteousness / Like the stars forever and ever. / But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

October 23rd, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Daniel was told that the words in this prophecy were to be hidden or shut up until “the time of the end.” Although this was recorded almost 2600 years ago, its words are more descriptive of this century than any other since it was first written. Today a person can jump on a commercial airline and fly to almost any corner of the globe in a matter of hours. And knowledge is expanding at unprecedented rates. In printed form alone, there are more than 1000 pages of new information being published a second—that’s 86 million pages a day. No human is capable of reading and keeping up with that much new knowledge, even if they could read 24 hours a day and retain all they read. Just these 2 predictions, added to the fact that Israel is a nation again, should make any rational, objective person acknowledge the accuracy of these Scriptures.

This begs the question Francis Schaeffer asked, and which is also the title of his book, How then shall we live? In Luke 5:5, Jesus told the disciples to take their boat into deep water and let down their nets, Peter said, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and caught nothing.” However, they chose to obey Him, and when they threw out their nets again, they pulled in their greatest haul of fish ever. Often we feel that if we could have a different net or just get into a different location, it would all be better for us. But what Jesus said to His disciples is the same thing He says to us. We should let down our nets in the same waters with the same equipment and the same difficulties. He will do what only He can do, make our efforts successful and turn many to righteousness.

“LORD, we gratefully submit to You and Your plans for our lives this day. Have Your way in us this day.”