King Nebuchadnezzar ransacked Jerusalem, burned the Temple, and stole all its gold. He did great exploits and was a grand architect. He even designed one of the ancient wonders of the world, the hanging gardens of Babylon. One day he was out on the roof of his palace admiring his great kingdom and all that his hands had accomplished when he heard a voice coming from the heavens. He immediately went crazy and his kingdom was gone –just like that! His subjects chained him to a tree and there he remained. Solomon tells us, “All of man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.” What he has done here is given us a little insight into the nature of man, the fallen nature that is. Why is it that we boast of what we do? Why do we feel it necessary to speak of our achievements? Is it all because of that thing we call the ego? The ego is not a bad thing. It is the conscious aspect of our psyche that lets us know that we are self and not someone else. Our ego allows us to be aware of ourselves in the midst of all the other things of creation. But since the fall of man, our ego has been in need of exaltation. For example: I need to do special things for Robin and then let her know that I did them for her. This helps me feel good about myself. I want her approval and when I get it my ego is satisfied –for the time being! You see, I think Solomon was exactly right. I complain to myself that I don’t do enough and if I don’t do something about it, then I usually end up feeling pretty useless after awhile. If I would let these feelings go unchecked, who knows what kind of depression I would end up in? The ego can work the other way as well. I can try to do all kinds of good things and meet every need I see. I can get to feeling pretty good about myself, thinking that I’m just the right chap and I don’t see how the world could turn without me? I call that the “Nebuchadnezzar syndrome” and it will ultimately end with my insanity. Someone once said that they have been to the top only to realize that nothing was there. How truly anticlimactic all of our achievements really are! Do you want to know why all our good works will never satisfy our ego? Because when we do good things we are not doing anything any more special than what we were suppose to do from the beginning when God created us! We were created to do good and accomplish great things. But when man fell from grace our egos were damaged and they have been in need of soothing and exalting ever since. It is only in Christ that our egos can be healed and kept from ruining us. While Nebuchadnezzar was chained to that tree he lifted his eyes toward Heaven and acknowledged that God was King. And God restored his sanity and his kingdom. Do you feel worthless? Are you a glory hound? Is your ego a friend or foe? If you surrender your life to Christ he will make you glad that you are you! And because of the love that He has especially for you –you’ll be glad that you’re not somebody else!