The Proudest King Who Ate Grass

There was once a king named Nebuchadnezzar, and he was the most powerful man in all the world.

He was the same king who had watched three brave friends walk out of his blazing furnace without even the smell of smoke on them. He had seen God's power with his own two eyes. But proud hearts forget fast.

His kingdom was called Babylon, and oh, it was beautiful, with golden walls and gardens that spilled green and bright down toward the river. From the roof of his palace the king could see the whole shining city below him.

And when he looked, he thought, "I made this. I am the greatest. Look how mighty I am."

He did not say thank you to anyone. He had forgotten that the sun he stood in, and the breath in his chest, and the strength in his two hands were all gifts, every one of them, given to him.

God saw the proud king. And God was not angry the way you might think. He was sad, the way you are sad when someone you love cannot see what is true. So God sent him a dream, and a warning, and a whole year to listen.

But the king kept looking down at his city instead of up.

So one day, while the proud words were still warm in his mouth, the greatness slipped away. The king who thought he was so big became very, very small. He went out from his golden palace into the wet fields. His hair grew long and tangled. He crawled on the ground. He ate grass like the cattle in the morning dew.

The mightiest man in the world, on his hands and knees in the grass.

But his story was not finished. One day, out in that wet field, the king did something he had never done before.

He looked up.

He lifted his eyes from the dirt to the sky. And in that moment his mind came back to him, and his heart came back too. And he said, at last, the wisest words he had ever spoken: "Heaven rules. Not me. God is great, and God is good, and everything I had was a gift all along."

And the very minute he praised Heaven instead of himself, God lifted him up. He set him back on his feet and gave him his kingdom again, and more.

This is how God's world works, even though it looks upside down to us. The ones who puff themselves up get brought low. And the ones who bow their heads and look up get lifted high.

A long time after this, another King came. He did not grab at greatness. He laid it down. He went all the way down, lower than a field, lower than the grass, down into death itself, with his face still turned up to his Father.

And God lifted him highest of all.

And ever after, when Nebuchadnezzar stood on his palace roof and looked out at his shining city, he did not say, "Look how mighty I am." He looked up, past the towers, all the way to Heaven, and he said thank you.