Then, 28 verses later the same guy is full of pride bragging about himself and how he has made himself great. He has forgotten all about God (if Nebuchadnezzar could become full of pride and forget about God we can too).
So God kicks him out of the palace and Nebuchadnezzar lives out in in the fields like an animal for seven years losing his mind and eating grass.
At the end of the seven years, he gets his mind back and acknowledges God's greatness and wonder and God's dominion. He then says, "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me . . . so I was reestablished in my sovereignty . . . Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just,a nd He is able to humble those who walk in pride." Daniel 4:36-37
You'd think that this experience and story and witnessing it would have a lasting effect on Nebuchadnezzar's son. That maybe he would follow God because of what happened to his father. But he didn't. In Daniel 5 we see Nebby's son Belshazzar being so anti-god that he ends up being killed. Daniel says to him, "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this (the eating grass story)," Daniel 5:22
This reminded me this morning that each of us has to have a personal faith. Each of us has to decide for ourselves that we will love and serve God. And no matter what we do we can't decide for our own kids. We can faithfully talk to them about the faith, about living for Jesus. We can take them to church every week for their entire growing up years. We can read to them from the Bible. We can make sure they can learn all they can, but none of this will guarantee they will choose Jesus. We can't do it for them. We can't do it for anyone but ourselves.
And we can't use someone else's faith as ours.
It's just you and God. One day each of us will stand before God all by ourselves and then we answer to Him. No one can answer for us.