
Daniel 3:12
"But there are some Jews-Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego-whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up."
Observation:
These 3 guys are awesome! They feared the Lord and not man. They were willing to die before they would even consider bowing down to King Nebuchadnezzar's statue. Even though they had been treated like royalty and given great positions, they could not be bought with material things, they were standing on the solid rock! Check out their response to the king when they were confronted:
v.16-18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."
Application:
Whenever I read a scripture like this, there is only one question I can ask myself, would I have done the same thing? Or, would I have bowed down to the statue. I mean, think about it, they weren't even scared. They were all brave about it. I'm thankful that I'm not in that situation, but I guess the real question I have to ask myself is this: What am I bowing down to? What areas am I compromising with?
A while back Pastor Steve talked about not being conformed to the image of the world, the culture. How much of my character and my day to day life is being conformed by God and how much is being conformed to the world. When I really take a step back and look at my life, I'm a lot more worldly than I would like to admit. God has been really convicting me in this area and causing me to do a lot of self-examination.
1 John 2:15
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
1 Peter 3:14
But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, Thank you for my salvation. Thank you for being obedient to the point of death for my sake. Help me to grow in my understanding of your commandments. Help me to die to myself and my own desires. Forgive me for seeking first the things of this world. Encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ, and let me be an encourager. Help us not to compromise. In Jesus name, Amen!
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