Make A Stand For What You Believe

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/ywxk3k

Imagine if you will that you have a wonderful job. In fact, you have risen above most others and have garnered the trust not only of your peers but also of the head of your country. But before long you are asked to compromise your values. Not just a basic concept of right or wrong, but something more significant.

Imagine that your new job also requires that you worship a different god. Would you abandon your faith just to keep a job? Would you consider sharing your worship to God with another god in hopes that your benefits and security would not go away? Is your faith for sale? Or would you make a stand for what you believe?

The Book of Daniel describes a situation where three young men have risen to positions of great responsibility. These three men are friends of Daniel. They are Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but we know them mostly by the names that they were given while in Babylonian captivity—Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.

At one point King Nebuchadnezzar decided to make an image of gold about 90 feet tall. This idol was set up in the plain of Dura and a great event was held to dedicate the image. It was proclaimed that whenever the sounds of instruments were heard that everyone should fall down and worship that idol that the king had made. The penalty for not doing this was to be thrown into a furnace of fire.

However, these three young men were dedicated to the real God and refused to fall down and worship the idol. This came to the attention of the king who commanded that these three men be brought before him. Then in an effort to spare them, the king says, “Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Daniel 3:15.

Now here is a real dilemma. If they fall down to worship the image they will go against their own God, but they will be able to keep their jobs, and their lives! But if they do not, then they will not only lose their position, but will immediately be sentenced to death in the furnace.

Self-preservation is a very strong part of human nature. We instinctively want to do things that will keep us alive and healthy. For many people this would be a very difficult choice to make. Is their faith strong enough for them to stand up when challenged, even in the face of death?

Well, these three never hesitate in their choice. Here is their answer in Daniel 3:16-18.

“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 our hand, O king. 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.”

You know the rest of this story. They refused to worship the idol so the king commanded that they be thrown into the furnace. But instead of dying, they survived. Instead of being exalted as being worthy of worship, the king decreed that there was no other God than the God of these three men.

It takes faith to make a stand for what you believe. God’s lessons to us in this story are numerous. But among the points for us to learn are the following.

First, sometimes we will need to pass through difficult trials. James 1:2 says that the “testing of your faith produces patience.”

Second, God will deliver us. He will be with us in the trials and will see us through the trials as well.

Third, God’s furnace purifies, but does not destroy. Like the silver that is refined, the Christian who endures trials will be more pure and valuable.

Finally, we should always hold to our faith and never be tempted to betray God.

Do you have the courage to make a stand for what you believe? If not, you should.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we make an effort today to look for things that challenge our faith and may we stand fast in the face of those challenges.

Our thought for the day: “The fear of God makes a hero; the fear of man a coward.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.