If someone “lives large”, he leads an... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendour was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
Daniel 2:31-33

If someone "lives large", he leads an expensive lifestyle; if someone "gets off on the wrong foot", something catches him off guard. If a thing "stands on feet of clay", it is uncertain and has no firm foundation.

The phrase "standing on feet of clay" has its origins in the Bible: in 605 bc, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar deported Jews to Babylon, including a young man named Daniel. A short time later, the king had a dream that only Daniel could explain. Nebuchadnezzar saw an enormous, extraordinary statue: the head was made of gold, the torso of silver, the belly of copper, and the legs of iron. The feet, however, were "partly of iron and partly of clay". In a dream, the king saw a stone that broke loose and struck the statue on its feet. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together" (v. 35).

Today, many people are financially secure, live healthy and environmentally conscious lives, find satisfaction in their careers and enjoy life. It seems as though everything is perfect. But then something unforeseen comes into their lives. Their job falls away, their marriage breaks up, an illness spreads: suddenly the foundation of life crumbles because it is unstable.

I don't want my life to stand on feet of clay - I want to have a foundation I can rely on! That is why I have based my life on Jesus Christ. And I wish for you this foundation for your life too!

Today's reading: Numbers 7:30-65 · Matthew 5:33-48