As the temperature keeps climbing outside, we often wonder what we can do to beat the heat. I am reminded of a time when three Israelite boys were threatened to be thrown into a fiery furnace if they did not bow down to the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had set up. They had been captured and exiled into Babylon, but stayed true to God’s command to have no other Gods before Him.
Daniel 3:16-18 records their response: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to Him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve will be able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They were confident that God was perfectly able to deliver them, but they would accept the consequences even if he did not.
When the king turned up the heat and threw the boys in the fiery furnace, they were joined by a fourth person who protected them from the flames and delivered them so that not even a hair on their heads were singed! They were praised by the king for being “willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” (v. 28). They boys were promoted for their bravery and their freedom to worship the one true God was granted to them.
When the heat gets turned up by those outside our faith to conform to the ways of the world, how do you handle it? Do you give into the pressure? Or do you take a stand for God whatever the cost? You may feel a lot like the boys in Babylon in your current situation. If you are under pressure to conform to the world’s philosophies or compromise your faith and your morals, take courage as you follow God and know that you are not alone in the fire. When you take a stand for Christ, He will stand with you through the fiery trial!
