One of the great things about the bible is that you can always learn something new when studying it. That even goes for Bible stories that are taught to small children. Even though the story may have been heard or read several times, there is usually a new slant or a new idea that appears that wasn't noticed before when studying that story again. One of my favorite stories from the Old Testament is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. This is a story that is often told to small children, but there are a lot of good lessons to be learned from this story for the young & old alike. If you are curious of the details of this story, the scriptures record these events in Daniel, the third chapter. Most of us are familiar with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: Three young Israelite men who were in captivity in Babylon who were forced to make a decision, forced to stand up for what they believed, and forced to decide who to serve, God or man. There are several lessons that are learned easily from this story such as: 1) serve no man or being other than God himself, 2) have faith in the Lord and he will be there for you. I'd like to examine a couple of other lessons that are also evident in this story. For starters, think of the immense pressure that was on the three of them. We don't know exactly how many people were present in Nebuchadnezzar's court at the time of this story, but there were obviously several high ranking Babylonian officials present. Plus we know from the scriptures that there were several instruments playing during the time that the people were to bow down, so you know that the volume was probably quite high when all these instruments were playing at once. Place yourself in their shoes among the nation's elite government officials and try to imagine the temptation that they were facing. All they had to do was bow down to this statue and life would return to normal, the music would stop, and the scrutiny would be lifted. That would have been the easy way out, but they chose to stand up for what was right; they chose to overcome temptation. Isn't it a shame today what small things cause us to stumble. Metaphorically speaking, we are asked many times in our lives to bow down to something else other than God. Do we stand up to the pressure or do we bow down our knees to the idol. We must realize that anything placed ahead of God in our lives becomes an idol to us. Another lesson taken from this story is that God blessed them (with deliverance) after they made the decision to serve him. They decided not to bow down to the idol made of gold and choose God as their only master. Because they chose God over the idol, God delivered them from the fiery furnace that awaited them. Do you think God would have spared them if they would have bowed down to the idol, but Nebuchadnezzar decided to torch them anyway for the trouble? Probably not! This has been a constant theme throughout the bible. Naaman was cured of leprosy only after dipping seven times in the river Jordan. The Children of Israel had their first born spared from the death angel only after they did exactly what God told them to do and spread the blood on their door posts. So many times today, people expect God's blessings before they obey his commands. God, please give me this and this and then if I get it, I'll serve and follow you. This is simply not the way it works. Do you expect God's blessings? Do you expect to go to heaven? Then what have you done for him lately! God expects us to love him above all others and if we don't adhere to that, then we really have no business expecting his blessings.
Member of Nixa, MO Church of Christ