The Power of a Made-up Mind (IV)

The Power of a Made-up Mind (IV)

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up (Daniel 3:16-18). [NKJV]

Bible Reading: Daniel 3:1-30

Among other things, one of the lessons the book of Daniel teaches us is to persevere because perseverance is a character of a determined mind. In our reading today, king Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image and set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He called important personalities in the land to attend the inauguration of the statue and commanded them to bow down before the king’s statue. After the king’s instruction, everybody bowed except the three Hebrew men. The king was informed that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow to the image. The king called the three Hebrew men and gave them another chance to bow before the image but they refused and answered the king: ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up’ (Daniel 3:16-18).

This infuriated the king and he commanded the fiery furnace to be heated seven times. The three Hebrew men were thrown into the fiery furnace but they were saved because the Son of God was present with them in the furnace (Daniel 3:25). The king decree that ‘every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort’ (Daniel 3:29).

It takes courage to have a made-up mind and one has to persevere because trials will come to test our conviction. The three Hebrew men believed in God even if it meant they were going to die. Through their action, the name of the Lord was exalted throughout the land. May God help us to be a generation that will resolve to stand for God.

Daily Confession: Lord Jesus I receive the grace to persevere as I am determined to stand for You. Amen.

Intercessory prayer: Pray that our youths will seek Jesus in their lives.

Hymn: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.