The Gospel Gives Courage
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who sent his angel and saved his servants, who trusted in God and ignored the king’s command. They gave up their bodies and did not pay homage or worship any god except their God. (Daniel 3:28)
After Nebuchadnezzar decreed that all the people were to worship the statue that he had made, Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had made. When they were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar, they witnessed to the power of God to save them. But even if God did not save them from the fires of the furnace, they knew that their God would take them to be with him. The words that Shadrach Meshak and Abednego spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar convinced Nebuchadnezzar, for a time, that the God of Israel is the one true God. He is the one who rescues us from all danger. He has rescued us from the fire that burns hotter than Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, the fires of hell.
We probably will never stand before a fiery furnace, waiting to be thrown in for our faith, but we will stand before our peers, our family, possibly even our government, and face ridicule, embarrassment, even rejection for our faith. When we choose to serve God and proclaim the gospel rather than appease those who want to make us conform to the ways of the world, we are witnesses to the power of the gospel and the comfort that God has given us.
Just like Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego, we can stand strong in the gospel, knowing that nothing can take God’s love and care away from us. Amen.
The song for today is “The Fourth Man In The Fire” by Johnny Cash