Daniel (Greek) 3:7-12: a reflection

7Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 8Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews. 9They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live for ever! 10You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image; 11and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not respected you. They don’t serve your gods, and don’t worship the golden image which you have set up.”

When Nebuchadnezzar sets up a great golden image and commands that everyone, at the sound of the music, fall down and worship it or be thrown into a fiery furnace, the response is nearly universal: all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped. But three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, would not. Amid a whole population bowing to the idol, they alone stood, refusing to worship what was not God, though it meant the furnace. And they were accused for it.

Notice the lone stand of the three: everyone else bowed, but they would not. The pressure was immense, universal conformity all around them, the whole population falling down, and the cost of refusing was death in the furnace. Yet they would not bow to what was not God. Their allegiance to God would not bend, even when everyone else bowed, even under threat of death. They stood alone against the crowd.

That is a picture of costly faithfulness worth remembering. There are times when everyone around us bows to something, conforms, gives their allegiance to what is not God, whether an idol, an ideology, a demand to compromise, and the pressure to bow with them, to conform, is immense, the cost of standing alone real. The three men show the courage to refuse, to not bow to what is not God, even when everyone else does, even at great cost. When you face pressure to bow to what is not God, to conform with everyone around you, to give your allegiance where it does not belong, remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Do not bow. Stand for God, even alone, even at cost, refusing to give your worship and allegiance to anything but him.

Lord, when the whole population bowed to Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, three men alone would not, refusing to worship what was not God, though it meant the furnace. Give me their courage. There are times when everyone around me bows to something, conforms, gives their allegiance to what is not God, and the pressure to bow with them is immense, the cost of standing alone real. Help me, like the three, refuse to bow to what is not God, even when everyone else does, even at great cost. When I face pressure to conform, to give my allegiance where it does not belong, keep me from bowing. Help me stand for you, even alone, even at cost, refusing to give my worship and allegiance to anything but you. Let my allegiance to you not bend, whatever the pressure or the cost.