Sticking To Your Guns

Do you know the story from the book of Daniel in the Old Testament that tells about three of Daniel's peers succeeding in the face of adversity? It's the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

These three fellows along with Daniel and all of the other Israelites who had been exiled were living in Babylon under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, and the king had a statue that was 90 feet high and 8 feet wide erected. The king decreed that, when the music was played, everyone was to bow down and worship the statue in honor of the king's almighty power. As you might suspect, some of the king's men went and tattled that our boys didn't bow to the statue and you might also have guessed that this really made the king mad. He ordered them bound and thrown into a furnace after giving them one last chance to bow down and them refusing.

But an angel of the Lord came and protected the boys and they walked straight out of the furnace unharmed! The king, realizing that the God of Daniel was at work and seeing that these men were willing to serve God all the way to certain death, praised God and restored the guys to even higher positions in his kingdom than they had before.

Yesterday I wrote about how we can tell God's leadership and guidance apart from the world's. Just as importantly as having the eyes to see and ears to hear is having the heart and mind to stand fast to our belief that Jesus is God in human form and that we have eternal life because of His sacrifice. We simply cannot allow even small parts of our belief be brought into question and we certainly don't want for people to know us as Christ followers and then see us holding hands with the devil!

After you put your eyes on God and your ears on His word, it's time to not only share what you know but to stand up to it when your faith is brought into question. Even without speaking a word, your actions will give you away as one of God's faithful children and your effect on the world will be felt by who knows how many of the lost.