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Read: Daniel 3
Characters: Daniel (Belteshazzar), Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego)THE STORY
After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Israel, he gave instructions to his officers to take fine Israelites to serve him in his palace. Among these Israelites were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. To cut the long story short, Daniel (Belteshazzar) was promoted as a ruler of the whole province of Babylon after God showed him the revelation about King Nebuchadnezzar’s first deam. His other three friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) were then appointed over the affairs of Babylon.After that King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and instructed his people to bow down and worship it once they hear the music.
But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship the golden image.
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace, and who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (Daniel 3.14-15 ESV)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you 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 your hand, O king. But If not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set yup” (Daniel 3.16-18 ESV)
This angered King Nebuchadnezzar and they were thrown in the burning fiery furnace which was heated seven times more than usual that the mighty men who took them were killed.
The King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3.24-25 ESV)
They were taken out of the furnace and they were untouched by the fire, not even their garments; and the smell of fire did not even come upon them.
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants, who trusted in Him, and set aside the King’s command, and yielded up their body rather than serve and worship any god other than their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” (Daniel 3.28-29 ESV)
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIVING
As we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, He starts to give us a new nature… an Extraordinary Living which is different from the world wherein we used to flow with. This Extraordinary way of living will cause external and internal resistance.Just like in the story where in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow and worship just as all the people around them did, it is also inevitable for us to encounter decisions that can compromise our faith in God. The kind of resistance in our story can somehow be called persecution. Persecution is very common in other non-Christian countries. Many people of the faith are being murdered because of their faith. Their families are being burned alive in front of them. And it’s all because they did not renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.
How about us who do not experience persecution? Yes. We also face resistances. Romans 12 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” And as Christians living in this broken world, we can be sure that the way Jesus wants us to live is far different from the way the world wants us to live. Whether we like it or not, we have to face these resistances, even to the point of suffering in doing the things that glorifies God. This is the extraordinary living.
EXTRAORDINARY FAITH
“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 your hand, O king.”(Daniel 3.17 ESV)Extraordinary Faith is when we are confident, and we believe and trust that God is able and that He is faithful to His promises. Sometimes we face decisions where we are tempted to depend on our own ability and understanding, thus compromising our faith in God. It goes with anger, injustice, betrayal, anxieties, even pride. The extraordinary living that Jesus Christ wants us to live involves full trust in His capabilities and faithfulness, even though we will suffer from doing the right thing… even though it will give us confusions about what is already happening. Extraordinary faith in God is when we do not fear being burned in the burning fiery furnace because the God that we know is faithful and will be able to deliver us.
EXTRAORDINARY DEVOTION
"But If not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3.18 ESV)The best example of Extraordinary Devotion is our fellow Christians who are being persecuted in other countries. Many of them are literally being burned alive because they chose not to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. The point is, our extraordinary life in Jesus Christ does not only revolves around God’s capabilities and faithfulness. It also includes our reverence to Him even though we end up not being delivered from the consequences of doing the right thing that glorifies Him. Imagine yourself onboard a ship with corrupt officers or management. Refusing to take your share of the dirty money might cause you harm as you could be a threat (or be a whistleblower) against them. So what would be your stand? That is the extraordinary devotion that we are talking about. Living the extraordinary life is not just about our faith in God, but also about our devotion to Him.
EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE
'He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”' (Daniel 3:25 ESV)Extraordinary Experience is God’s intervention in our hopeless situations. Sometimes doing the right thing puts us in a situation wherein everything and everyone will be against us. That is how life works. If we refuse to conform to this world, it will move against us; and the more we resist, the harder the resistance will be. But because we practice our extraordinary faith and extraordinary devotion to God, we can be sure that extraordinary experience with Him awaits. It doesn’t have to be as miraculous as being delivered from the burning fiery furnace like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Even the profound peace and joy that we experience amidst depressing times are already miraculous. Even the simplest words “I FORGIVE YOU” is already miraculous. Living the Christian life is always an extraordinary experience with God.
EXTRAORDINARY TESTIMONY
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants, who trusted in Him, and set aside the King’s command, and yielded up their body rather than serve and worship any god other than their own God … for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” (Daniel 3:28-29b ESV)Extraordinary experience is always preceded by Extraordinary Testimony. As people saved by Jesus Christ from the doom of our sins, we are supernaturally transforming into His testimonies for the people of this world. We are called to be the salt and light of this world. Jesus called us to shine our light so that people may come to know Him and the goodness of the Father. This light is seen in our testimony. When people see that no other God can deliver with the way we are delivered from out life of sin, that’s the time they see Jesus’ testimony in us. When people see how different our way of living are compared to the rest of the world, that’s the time they see the goodness of our Father.
Living the Christian life is not about God's power to remove our problems. The Christian living is about God’s powerful presence with us in going through the battles of our faith. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We may face a lot of sufferings in this world because of our faith, but let us always remind ourselves that Jesus had already overcome the world, and He promised to be with us always. Whatever we are going through right now in our pursuit of righteousness… there will always be another in the fire. Amen.
Photo by: Igor Haritanovich
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