Daniel ch.3 – Courage Under Fire

In Daniel ch.3, three of Daniel’s friends enter the scene: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Like Daniel, these three young teenagers were committed to God. They had experienced life with God that gave them inner peace and joy that only comes from practicing spiritual things like prayer, reflecting on Scripture, and silence and solitude before God.

So when the Babylonian king commanded them to bow to the golden statue of him – or else – they didn’t do it.

Instead, they faced the death penalty of being burned alive.

Here’s what they said to the king:

Daniel 3:17-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O 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 is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Because they had lived life with God – closely, intimately with him – they knew that he could deliver them. But, even if he chose not to deliver them from the fiery furnace of punishment, they still wouldn’t bow down to the king.

They trusted God no matter what his answer would be. How could they do that? How could that have that kind of faith – no matter what? It all comes back to living a life with God every day – using every moment that we can to draw close to him.