I don’t know about you, but I love reading the Old Testament. The real-life accounts of men and women who, in some way, put their life on the line for God are both unbelievable and inspiring. The amazing part about these heroes of the faith, is that they did not do it for notoriety, power, or money. They lived the way they did because they had ultimate faith in God.
The book of Daniel contains the true story of three God-fearing, death-defying young Hebrew men named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. These men were born of royal or noble birth in the Kingdom of Judah. After Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem, they were deported to central-southern Mesopotamia, a region now know as Iraq. They were forced to enter a training program that taught them the language and literature of the Babylonians, so they could one day serve in the king’s palace.
The king decides to build a 90-foot statue of himself, and requires everyone to bow down and worship it. The three Jews completely ignore the mandate, and are eventually confronted by the king, who tells them they will be killed for any further rebellion. To this threat, they reply,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.” (Daniel 3:16, 17).
What remarkable faith they had! Or did they? In the very next verse, they say, “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Paraphrased, they said whether or not God saves our literal bodies, our commitment to follow Him and His mandates far supersede yours.
I am challenged by the faith of these young men. They stood on the verge of denying God by bowing to the idol, or defying a man so that God would be glorified.
Jesus has mandated every Christian to be a part of the Great Commission by intentionally doing something to contribute toward building His Kingdom. But doing this requires great faith. It requires prayer, money and time. So we have a decision to make: deny God’s call on each of our lives to purposefully go into all the world with the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, or defy the lies of the enemy that tell us we have no time to pray for the nations, we have no money to give to support missions, and we are definitely too busy to go ourselves.
God help us use our faith, so others may hear your Name and be changed for eternity.
