Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
This is one of my favorite Bible stories. It is about three young men who take a stand for God by refusing to bow to an idol. In this story these young men are forced to express their convictions and beliefs toward God at the cost of their own lives. Many of us are too timid and too shy to even talk about God, let alone risk our lives for our beliefs. When faced with death as an option these three young men still confessed their faith, belief and trust in God. Not only did they confess it, but they put it into action knowing the consequences that awaited them. Too often, we are too comfortable and too closeted in our beliefs about God and would never even dream of putting our lives on the line to state our beliefs. One of the biggest problems the church faces today is the passiveness of Christians. Christians allow various issues and topics in today's world to go unchallenged and unchecked by the word of God, their own convictions and beliefs.
Many of the issues that we face now are a direct result of Christians being silent. In our silence, we have condoned these actions, behaviors, and lifestyles that are not of or consistent with the Word of God. Much of this is because even then we knew that the fire would come upon us if we expressed the word of God, our convictions and our beliefs. One of the reasons we have this story in the Bible is because of the bravery, the conviction, fortitude, and plain old devotion to God of these three Hebrew boys. Here we are thousands of years later, still talking about these three young men. Many of us at one time or another in our lives will find ourselves either in or going through the fire. While the fire comes for all of us, under various circumstances and situations the question is, is how we will endure during the times of fire? I have learned that when the heat gets turned up on people you will see their true character. This is evident in this story, as these three young men were in the fire the truth of their character was shown; that they belonged to God. Scripture tells us that there were three put in, but there were four of them that were seen and the fourth looked like the Son of God. Isn't it wonderful to know that in times of trial, turmoil, and fire that God will walk with you. The reason that God sent the fourth into the fire was because of the convictions of the three young men when confronted with worshipping an idol.
There are great benefits to being on God's side in times of fire:
1. There is no fire that God will put or allow you to be placed in that he cannot deliver you from.
2. While you are in the fire, you will experience the presence of God and He will make himself known to you.
3. When you are delivered from the fire, there will be no marks to show that you've ever been in one.
One thing that I learned about God, is that God will take any one of us no matter where we've been, no matter what we've done and will clean us up to the point that we will not have evidence that we've been through the fire. The beauty of this story is found in verse 27. It tells us that the fire had no power over these men nor was their hair singed, nor did their coats changed, nor was the smell of fire upon them. In other words, what the scripture is telling us is, that when we worship God without compromise we will find ourselves in the fire. However, when we come out we won’t be hurt, our bodies won’t be burned nor will we smell like smoke.
Challenge: Worship God only, do it without compromise, endure the persecution and walk out of the fire unharmed. Remember it is better to endure the fire of persecution on earth and be delivered by God because you believed in Him then to endure the eternal fires of Hell because you compromised your worship of God while on earth.
This is one of my favorite Bible stories. It is about three young men who take a stand for God by refusing to bow to an idol. In this story these young men are forced to express their convictions and beliefs toward God at the cost of their own lives. Many of us are too timid and too shy to even talk about God, let alone risk our lives for our beliefs. When faced with death as an option these three young men still confessed their faith, belief and trust in God. Not only did they confess it, but they put it into action knowing the consequences that awaited them. Too often, we are too comfortable and too closeted in our beliefs about God and would never even dream of putting our lives on the line to state our beliefs. One of the biggest problems the church faces today is the passiveness of Christians. Christians allow various issues and topics in today's world to go unchallenged and unchecked by the word of God, their own convictions and beliefs.