November 20, 2017
One of my favorite stories in the Bible comes from the book of Daniel and it is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. To give a little synopsis, (but you should still go read it if you haven’t) there were three men with some pretty wack names; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they worked in Babylon for King Nebuchadnezzar. Basically, Nebuchadnezzar had a large statue made for the people to worship, and if they didn’t, they would be thrown into a furnace. Some people saw that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the statue and told the king. The king offered to give the men another chance, but they told him that they would not worship anyone or anything besides God. They said that if Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the furnace, God will save them, but (this is key) they said even if God didn’t save them, they still would not worship the statue or anyone but their God. Woah. Their faithfulness to God here is amazing. These men were willing to be thrown into a furnace for God, not even sure if He would save them, and they were okay with it. They were willing to die for their God and even if He didn’t save them, they trusted God completely. This is the most amazing part of the story to me, but wait it does have a pretty cool ending too. The king threw the three men into the furnace, but then he noticed that there were 4 people in there instead of 3… (surprise!) Nebuchadnezzar realized that the God they worshiped was real and faithful. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego then walked out of the furnace without any burns. God protected them. I love this story because it shows God’s love and protection for his people, but what is so beautiful to me is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s loyalty to God without knowing that He would even save them.
“Whoever denies me in front of others, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 10:33
This isn’t one of my favorite stories in the Bible because God saved the three men from the furnace, but because of the obedience, faith, and unashamed boldness that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego display for us. They lived their lives for their Creator, and they were not going to hide it. They made their faith public and known, no matter the consequences. Whether they were going to be rejected, ridiculed, isolated, excluded, tortured, or even murdered, they refused to deny their Father. Even if we never come across a situation this extreme, this passage still applies to our lives because we should never deny our faith to fit in with the crowd because we are worried about the consequences.
Sometimes, denying God isn’t just refusing to admit your faith. Sometimes, it’s merely hiding the fact that you are a Christian from others. If people ask you if you are a Christian and you say no, that is one type of denial. But denial can also be keeping your faith a secret from your peers and not talking about it, even though no one has straight up asked you. Satan is quite the extremist, and will use every situation that your faith isn’t evident into an act of denial in which you are trying to disassociate yourself with God.
Much love, Em