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Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzar and had become king when his father died. He had no respect for God and had used the sacred vessels from the temple in Jerusalem as ordinary vessels to eat and drink from. As they sat drinking the wine and praising their gods, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote those words on the wall. I can’t imagine the fear it must have inspired in the king and those who were with him. I’m sure the interpretation didn’t settle too well with him either. He was killed that night. Most of us will not get a message as chilling as this, but many of us will get a message that we have a limited time ahead of us. A diagnosis of cancer, of COPD, of heart failure, or an aneurism, are all life limiting. The question then is, what do we do with it? Belshazzar had no time to reflect on his misdeeds, but we do. We are given a lot of warnings during this time of the year. Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent which begins the new liturgical year and we once again think about the coming of Jesus both as an infant and when he comes again. Of course, we know we should be reflecting on how well we keep both the commandments and Jesus’ law of love all the time. But! When I taught young children, I reminded them that the police and firefighters came to their schools every year to make sure they knew how to stay safe. God reminds us with his Word because he wants us to remain safe so that we will be with him at the end of our lives.Prayer: Loving God you want all of us your children to be with you for all eternity. Thank you for reminding us how the choices we make now will determine whether we will be with you or not. Amen.