“Grandpa, the stilts don’t work!” Edward complained, plopping down on the step.

“Didn’t you ask me how to use them five minutes ago?” Grandpa asked. “If you do it the way I told you, it will work.”

“But I like my way better,” Edward mumbled.

Grandpa smiled a little. “But your way didn’t work, did it? Let me tell you a story about

The King Who Wouldn’t Listen

(From Daniel 4)

King Nebuchadnezzar always liked doing things his way. His way was always the smartest and the best, he thought. Hadn’t he conquered all the world with his armies? Didn’t he personally test and choose the princes to govern his lands? And when problems came, Nebuchadnezzar had the wisest men in the kingdom to answer all his questions. Such as, how he should construct a bigger statue, or what a dream might mean. Sometimes the king’s dreams were really a problem.

“Call all the wise men before me,” the king decreed one morning. “I need to know the interpretation of the dream I had last night!” But the wise men of the land couldn’t satisfy him. “It is Belteshazzar that I need,” the king decided at last. “No problem ever stops him.”

So Belteshazzar, the chief governor of the land, came in. The king was very pleased to see him. “O master of magicians,” he cried, “do tell me the interpretation of my dream! I had a vision of a great tree that reached up to heaven, with beautiful leaves and much fruit. It gave shade to all the animals of the earth. But then a holy one came down from heaven and cried that the tree should be cut down and only its stump should be left in the field.” The king sat back in his throne. “Now tell me what this dream means, Belteshazzar. The other wise men couldn’t answer me, but you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

The truly wise man stood silent before him, a troubled look on his face. The king waited, but at last grew impatient. “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream bother you so!”

Belteshazzar looked up sadly. “May the dream come true on your enemies, O king,” he said quietly. “The great tree is you, O king, because you have grown strong and your kingdom is to the end of the earth. And so the most High has decreed that your kingdom shall be taken from you and you shall live like a cow in the field, until you know that the most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives them to whomsoever He wills.” The wise man’s voice became bold. “O king, consider what I say. Break off your sins by doing right. Show mercy to the poor that you might continue in peace!”

The king nodded his head. The wise man was dismissed. Of course, Belteshazzar must be right. But the advice? Well, it wasn’t his way of doing things at all. Great King Nebuchadnezzar was never wrong, so why should he change his ways? Like so many others, once the king got the answer he asked for, he wouldn’t listen.

Edward sat looking at his shoes. Finally he said, “Grandpa, if you tell me one more time, I will listen.”

Grandpa pretended not to understand. “What! You didn’t listen to the story? When did you fall asleep?”

“I heard the story, Grandpa!” Edward said quickly. “It was about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and how all the wise men couldn’t answer it except Belt-sher-shaz, or something like that.”

“Bel-te-shaz-zar,” Grandpa said slowly.

“But I thought it was Daniel that told the dream,” Edward said, looking puzzled. “How did that man know the right answer?”

“Was it the right answer?” Grandpa asked.

“Yes, because I remember that it all came true and the king did act crazy like a cow and grew feathers and everything!”

“Wasn’t it too bad the king didn’t listen to Daniel’s advice?” Grandpa said. “Belteshazzar was the name Nebuchadnezzar had given to Daniel, and it meant something like ‘the wisdom of the gods.’ The king knew he was right.”

“I guess he did,” Edward said. “But he just didn’t want to do it.”

“Just like a little boy around here,” said Grandpa, with a wink. “Let’s go out and see about those stilts. Maybe this time they will work!”