Image from exploredanrev.com
They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, shall fall down and worship the golden statue, and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. (Daniel 7 various verses NRSV)
Good Friday, dear Friend! I pray this finds you and yours doing well, and enjoying the blessings of the Lord Jesus in all you do. May this time spent in prayer and scripture study bring rich and wonderful blessings to you; that is my prayer.
I remember reading that a new type of phone was coming. Utilizing cell towers around the country, this phone would allow for common people to have phones that would be wireless and free of being limited to a line or cord. We already had cordless phones that would allow teenagers to roam their homes in conversation without being tied to one certain spot, like a hallway, or a kitchen. What self-respecting teenager wants Mom to eavesdrop on the recent, juiciest gossip from school? No, this new phone would allow people to take their new phones, which would come to be known as "cell" phones because of their dependence on cell towers, in their cars and beyond. Soon, these were available to a select few, read the rich. I saw my first mobile phone while shopping for dresses for my girls in a department store and one of our neighbors had what seemed to be a second purse with a phone with a cord, and she was talking to her daughter and asking her if a certain dress she was describing would be good for her. I thought, that's a great reason to have a phone like that. I can ask what color or style might be best for my daughters. But, I had also read what that sort of phone would cost, and it was not in the budget of a pastor. Some time later, I had a meeting to attend in Alice, Texas. I rode with another pastor, and later that evening, after school, Nellie and the girls would drive up so that we could spend time together during that district conference. We had a room for us at the Holiday Inn and when the meeting for that day was over I went to await the arrival of my family. It was taking longer than usual and I wondered what was holding them from arriving at the time I had estimated they would be there. I heard from a friend that a horrific traffic wreck was holding up traffic. I asked what kind of vehicle it had been. They replied it was a Suburban. Our vehicle was a Suburban. Gulp. I had already been praying, but prayed all the harder. Soon I saw a Suburban that I thought was ours. But in the passenger seat I saw who I thought was a boy, and I thought, nope, the only boys in this family are me and the dog. The "boy" was wearing a baseball cap, then they got closer and I saw that it was my daughter wearing a cap I had said she should wear to help facilitate their time at the border checkpoint. My brother had been an instructor at a border patrol training center in Georgia and he had a cap given to him there, and wearing a cap like that, just got us waved through. There and then I told Nellie we have to get us one of those car phones! And we did.
That first phone was mounted on the car's floor and sat on a stand. The receiver sat on the mount with a long cord on it. A small microphone on my visor served for hands free calling, and a mounted speaker in the stand allowed for us to hear the caller.
Later, a dear older colleague and I were talking about car phones and the ever shrinking cell phones. "Why would I want a phone in my car?" he asked, "When I leave my office, I like to leave work behind! A cell phone or a car phone will only lengthen the chains to work." It made sense.
If you are reading this, you probably have a cell phone. If not, you're still connected in a way that you might not have dreamed about as recent as ten or so years ago. If you're under 21 years of age and reading this, can you imagine living life and attending school without a cell phone? You probably received a cell phone quite early in your life. To choose not to have a cell phone would require you to be unlike the rest of your peers. And you might be viewed as too different.
Imagine if having a cell phone and using it was required by your government; would your attitude be different? Such was the case for the friends of Daniel, the three known by their new captive names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These Jewish men knew there is but one, true, living God. Yet, their captors decreed that among the foreign gods, a new golden statue would be among the pantheon of gods and this one would merit your bowing down to it whenever you heard any of the musical instruments that would serve as a call to worship for it. The law read that if you did not bow down, you "would be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire." To obey that meant eternal death from God, and these young men decided they would obey God rather than man. As had happened with Daniel, these three had their own detractors, and when these saw that they were not bowing down to the golden statue, they reported them to the king, reminding him of the law. Angered, the king ordered the first to be heated seven times more than normal. So hot in fact, that the men who threw them in were killed by the heat.
The king was able to peer into the furnace and he was shocked to see that there were four men inside, rather than the three originally thrown in. And they were alive! Not in pain, not screaming in agony, alive! The king calls them out and not even a hair of their head was singed. And what was even more incredible was that they did not even smell like barbecue!
This led to the king declaring, " Nebuchadnezzar said, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy 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 deliver in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.'"
God provides, and God protects. God's actions in this story are the direct result of the young men's obedience to the Lord. They could have easily said, "Everyone is doing it! What could be wrong if we join in as well?" I'll give us one thing, we are good at rationalizing and justifying our actions. We can use peer pressure, or mob hysteria, as reasons for us to join in on things we know that are not necessarily healthy for us. Sunday, I will be preaching a sermon called The 25,000 Mile Checkup and it will address our lives and how they can be impacted either by peers or by the power and peace of God. If you're in the area I invite you to join us for either our 8:30 am Traditional Service or our 10:45 am Contemporary Worship; everyone is welcome!
PRAYER: Loving God, bless us with the wisdom to choose wisely in all things. May our decisions reflect our commitment to You and Your plan for our lives. May we reflect wisely on things that others seem to just accept. And this we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a beacon for the blessed today!
Blessings of love,
Eradio Valverde
Please keep school children in your prayers this morning. We have some area schools near our home here in Seguin, Texas, where terrorist threats have been made, as well as in Mission, where our three youngest grandchildren live. Pray that God touch the hearts of those with evil intent and convict them of that wrong. Pray for the safety of all children, those adults who teach and work with them, support staff, and administration. May the Lord bring peace to this earth!
