Dan 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s response to King Nebuchadnezzar’s demand they bow to the golden statue or burn is more complex than we learned from our children’s Bible stories, “If our God . . . exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace . . . But if not, . . . we don’t serve your gods.” They seem to say if God exists he can save us, but even if God doesn’t save us we still serve him. The children’s lesson is in their faith and salvation from the firey furnace, but the lesson for mature Christians is found in their faithfulness to God even if they burn for it.
My prayer is for a faith that does not fear fire.
When it comes to Jesus, I am . . .
My Top Recommended Spiritual Growth Books
- Just Walk Across the Room, by Bill Hybels
- Missional Church, by Darrell Guder
- No Perfect People Allowed, by John Burke
- No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, by Max Lucado
- Prayer by Phillip Yancey
- Seeing the Unseen, by Joe Beam
- The Barbarian Way, by Erwin McManus
- The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns
- The Life You've Always Wanted, by John Ortberg
- The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren
2 comments:
It is interesting to note that they served God unconditionally. They were his servants because God was who he was and they were willing to faithfully serve him without regard to their personal gain. In contrast in modern American soceity hardly anyone is willing to follow any authority unconditionally. It seems, we will follow to a point but how far are willing to go is tied tothe personal benefit we calculate we will receive from the relationship
Good thoughts. You know, I think both lessons are true. I noted that not only did they say they believed that God was "able" to save them, they also boldly expressed their conviction that he "will" rescue them. Faith is not mere belief in God and in what he >can< do. It is a deep-down trust that God cares, that he stands over us with his protective, fatherly love, and that he >will< respond. And it is a commitment to trusting the goodness of his will even if turns out that our deliverance does not come in the form we hope for.
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