Short Thought continued.....

Furnace walking with God

 

‘Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up?  

I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue

I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. 

But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. 

And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied,

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us.”’

(Daniel 3:14-17 NLT)

 

King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold statue which he commanded all people to bow down and worship;

anyone refusing to do so would be thrown into a blazing furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were three men who were not willing to

compromise their beliefs by bowing before the gold statue. They would worship God only.

 

King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be bound up and

thrown into the blazing furnace.  As Nebuchadnezzar watches, he suddenly jumps up

and exclaims to his advisors:

‘“Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” 

“Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied.

 “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound,

walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!”’

(Daniel 3:24-25 NLT)

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were brought out of the furnace. 

The fire had not burnt them. They were unharmed.

God had unbound them, walked with them and helped them withstand the fiery flames.

 

Sometimes we’ll find ourselves in a ‘furnace’:

a tough place where we feel like we’re walking through ‘fire’.

In such a place, we can choose to ask God to: unbind us, walk with us,

help us withstand the heat and keep the flames from harming us.

We can choose to trust Him with absolute confidence that He will rescue and save us.

 

God calls us into tough places where we can’t walk without Him and our need for Him is great;

for in the easy places we think we can walk on our own and

we become self-reliant, self-dependent, self-sufficient, self-worshipping.

 

‘Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!

He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. 

They defied the king’s command and were willing to die

rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.’

(Daniel 3:28 NLT)

 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were seen as men who trusted and worshipped God;

they demonstrated this to the point of being willing to die.

This led King Nebuchadnezzar to see that God was worthy of praise.

 

As you ‘furnace’ walk with God, how are you asking for His help?

How are you being a witness to others?

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