16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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.” ~ Daniel 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to the statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. That took a whole ‘nother level of faith to stand in front of the fiery furnace, feel the heat resonating off of it, and still refuse to bow to the statue. That’s faith to the death. Do we have that kind of faith today? Do we have the faith to say, “I know you’re capable, but even if you don’t my hope is in you alone”?
Who does your hope lie in? Where do you place your trust? If you don’t get that promotion, are you still going to put your trust in God? If you don’t get that job you want, are you still going to put your trust in God? If you’re held at gunpoint and told to deny that Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, are you still going to trust in God? Times are coming when our faith is going to be tested beyond what we can imagine. We think that because we live in societies that are free, that freedom will always be there. We think that because we live in societies that still hold to the traditions of religion, that religion won’t be changed. We live in little bubbles that never test our faith, so our faith never grows.
Imagine if tomorrow the world completely lost its mind and got rid of all religions except one false one. Imagine if they built a statue and told you to bow to it or lose your life. Would you be able to stand? Would you be like those three young Hebrew boys, or would you give in to fear because your faith wasn’t strong enough? Take the time of freedom to build your faith because no one knows what tomorrow may bring. Jesus said we would see tribulation like never before, is the Church ready for this? Or have we become so lukewarm we no longer hold to what Jesus said, but to what we feel we deserve to happen.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Test Your Faith.