Daniel 3:13-18
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this 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 to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
The amazing thing to me about this story is the deep faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It would have been so easy to go along with the crowd. The rationalizations are easy: "everybody's doing it", "I'll just be killed if I resist, and then I can't do any good". But they knew what was important, and they trusted God's sovereignty no matter what happened to them. They believed that God could rescue them (verse 17), but even if He chose not to, they were not going to compromise their morals (verse 18). Making the decision to be pure, to not serve other gods, may bring some ridicule or even persecution, but we can be assured that God is still in control. If we trust Him, He will reward our faithfulness.
Lord, help me to trust You even when the choice is hard.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this 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 to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
The amazing thing to me about this story is the deep faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It would have been so easy to go along with the crowd. The rationalizations are easy: "everybody's doing it", "I'll just be killed if I resist, and then I can't do any good". But they knew what was important, and they trusted God's sovereignty no matter what happened to them. They believed that God could rescue them (verse 17), but even if He chose not to, they were not going to compromise their morals (verse 18). Making the decision to be pure, to not serve other gods, may bring some ridicule or even persecution, but we can be assured that God is still in control. If we trust Him, He will reward our faithfulness.
Lord, help me to trust You even when the choice is hard.