Do you find yourself in great affliction? Do you find yourself in the great suffering? Do you feel like you are in an inferno and no way out? This post is for you!
Look up Daniel chapter 3 and read with me!
Here is a couple of links to take you there: http://www.blueletterbible.org/ or http://www.biblegateway.com/
Here is the scene: The King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar had built a golden statue of himself and set it up in the plain of Dura of Babylon. He then summoned the presence of all the officials of the kingdom to come to the dedication of this statue. However the King wanted them to not only dedicate it but also to worship it. Once the music began to play everyone was to bow down and worship this graven and man made image of the King. If anyone is found not bowing down in worship to this image they would be condemned to death and placed in a fiery furnace. Does anyone feel like you are in the fiery furnace because you do not believe what today’s society commends and accepts? You are not alone.
There were three men in this story that were in this predicament. They are most known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refused to bow down to this statue. You want to know why they did not bow down. Let us look at the ten commandments for a second a Exodus 34:14 Do not worship any god, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:17 Do not make any idols.
This Golden statue of the king of Babylon was exactly what the Israelites were told not to make and worship.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were asked in the presence of the king to bow and worship before this image once more or they would be thrown into the fiery furnace “what god will be able to save them?” Needless to say they did not worship the statue and were sent inside the furnace.
The three men were bound up by the strongest men of the army and cast them into the furnace and because they spoke up and said that the LORD their God would save them the fire was heated seven times hotter than it was usually set.
As the three men were in the furnace the king looked in and there were not three men but four men walking around in the fire. Do you wonder who that fourth man was? I always liked this part of this story because it had a good ending. The three men were released and the king recognized that the LORD of the three men was indeed GOD.
Now you may be thinking how can this relate to me:
You may not be summoned to worship a golden statue but what about the ideas and choices that have people disagree with you about. The LORD and God of the Old Testament and The LORD and God of the New Testament which makes up the Bible are the ONE and THE Same. HE is still the same yesterday, today and forever.
Just as that fourth man who was THE LORD walked in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked around the fiery furnace HE walks with us today in each every situation we encounter!
The LORD is with all those HE calls to endure this life on earth even to death. In a split second you could be faced with a choice to deny your faith in JESUS or to proclaim HIS name to this dying world. It is your life to lead. Yes, but it is the LORD God Creator of Heaven and Earth who gave you this life on earth. How do you want to live it?
I choose to live it as:
Living accepted, Living Loved, Living redeemed, and always in need of the Savior! Praise Be unto His NAME forever and Ever Amen!
Living Fountain 