“Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. 17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
The third chapter of Daniel reveals a trying time for God’s exiled people. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, declared that all people would worship an image of gold that he had set up. Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego refused to bow to this golden image, and were placed into the firey furnace, and eventually were delivered from the furnace. They dared to stand for God instead of bending to idolatry, which would break the first two of the Ten Commandments. We can learn from faith and courage, and why they were true to God. Their courage was due to their devotion to God. Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego were men of God, and were devoted to God alone. They absolutely could not bow to the golden image. The favor of God meant more to them than even the favor of the great king Nebuchadnezzar. Are you devoted to Jesus alone, or do you bow to the “false gods” of our age? Do you bow to greed or popularity instead of standing for the Lord? Do you seek the smile of God or the smile of the world? I pray that my devotion to God will be of this kind. Their courage was due to their obedience to God. The three great Hebrew men obeyed God rather than people. They obeyed the truth of God that they knew in their hearts instead of the falsehood that the world tried to foist on them. They took a step of faith instead of a step of fear. Do you obey God or people? Do you obey what the Bible teaches or what the world tells you is truth? The time in which we live sometimes demands that we obey God. But God has not changed, for He wants our obedience today as He did in the Hebrew children’s day. We need to learn what the apostles knew in Acts 5:29: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Their courage was due to their consistent faith in God. In other words, they were not “fair-weather friends” of God. They were consistent in their stand. There were no circumstances that would make them bow down to a false image. They had the faith and courage to say “no” to that with which they could not agree. They had the courage to say,“We will not serve your gods.” We need to be consistent as well. We shouldn’t let anything turn us from following Jesus. I have seen some people capitulate even when there was no fear of death. We will see a great difference in our lives, our homes and our churches when we stand for the Lord in the courage of consistency. For example, we will say “no” to the devil when he tries to get us to bow down to hurt feelings, or when he tries to get us into some disagreement with fellow Christians. We will say “no” to those who tell us the tolerance of sin is the supreme Christian virtue in the face of all sorts of ungodliness. We will say “no” to greed, pride, and lust when they try to steer us off course. We will have the courage to be consistent when the world demands inconsistency of us. When Paul feared that Timothy might waver in his faith and courage, he reminded him:" (For) God did not give you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (NIV) Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego practiced this spirit in this text. The day in which we live calls for us to have the faith and courage to stand for the Lord. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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