COMMITMENT UNTO DEATH

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 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 thine hand, O king. “

Daniel 3:16-17 (KJV)

In our scripture reading for today, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to king Nebuchadnezzar, we are not going to bow to your idol. We love and respect you king, but we are so committed to the God of Israel so much that we can’t bow to your idol. Verse 12 says “certain Jews…” This means it was not all the Jews refused to bow to the idol. Most of the Jews had bowed, but these ones refused. They have fire in their eyes, their shoulders were broad and their chests were out. They had implicit faith and confidence in God.

Even when the threat was real and the furnace had been heated seven times more, they still stood their ground, not because they had seen anyone come out of the fire before, but because they were too committed to God to bow to the idol. They preferred to die standing for God than to live bowing to the idol. So they said to the king: O king, live forever, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. Our God is able to deliver us. But we are not done yet, we want to show you the stuff we are made of, even if He does not deliver us, we will not bow to your idol. What a commitment!

I feel compelled to prepare you because your faith will be tried. There is always a passing through for every child of God, but when you stay focused and refuse to give up, you come out victorious. God has said that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). The Hebrew rendition of the word ‘NEVER’ is double negative. That is to say it can never happen. Therefore, you must go out every morning with the confidence that you are not alone. God showed up for the 3 Hebrew boys, He will also show up for you.

Further Reading: Daniel 3:1-19, Hebrews 13:5

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Deuteronomy 32-34; Evening- Mark 15:26-47