Daniel 3:8-18 – Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my 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?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this 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 up.”
THEME OF THE DAY: HOW TO WIN EACH BATTLE AGAINST TEMPTATION. They never wrote books of the Bible. We have no recorded sermons by them, though their lives were great sermons. They are most remembered as being Daniel’s friends and the characters in the Bible story of the fiery furnace. Even in the book of Daniel where they appear, they don’t say a whole lot. Yet, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego go down in history as the finest examples of what it takes to overcome the temptations to fear man, compromise truth, and dishonor God in the public forum. They provide for us what is absolutely essential if we want to live a holy life and not fall into the ploys of the devil leading us to Christ-displeasing sin.
As we read the riveting story of them in today’s scripture, we find these godly men brought before King Nebuchadnezzar charged with disobeying his decree to worship the golden image he constructed. During their “trial”, they are given a chance to answer the charge. They are also told the immediate “blessing” or consequence based on their answer. And it was either or. We could summarize the King’s inquisition like this, “Guys, I have showed you great favor in my kingdom, but I cannot nor will not tolerate insubordination. Just do what I say and it will be fine. However, if you don’t, I will put an end to you by destroying you by fire.” And here comes the lesson. Mull over the response by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this 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 up.” Wow. No hesitation. No request to think about this. No desire “to pray about it”. Simply, quickly, and decisively, they respond, “No. We will not obey you and compromise our commitment to the One True God no matter what you do to us.”
Friends, all temptation is defeated here. Fail here, and temptation will achieve its goal; leading us to sin against God. The only way to defeat any and all temptation is at the first sign of it, resolve to kill it by being quickly decisive to say “no”. But there is a catch. To be able to swiftly defuse temptation, one must be walking close with the Lord. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked with their God. They walked with the sense of His presence enabling them to respond so spiritually decisively. And the same applies for us. We will not model them if we are not close to the Lord. And a Christian distant from the Lord, will fall into temptation time and time again. May God help us to follow these guys as examples of how to defeat temptation every time it comes our way.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to respond immediately, decisively, and thoroughly for Your honor when I am tempted.”
QUOTE: “To defeat sin, we must act upon the first sign of temptation with holy resolve to say ‘no’”.