Is What You Are Living for Worth Dying For?

Daniel 3:17-18 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Anyone that reads through the book of Daniel will find that King Nebuchadnezzar was an interesting, unpredictable guy. Just when you think you have him figured out, he does something completely “out of character.”  Back at the end of chapter 2, he was worshipping both Daniel and Jehovah God saying, “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings. . . .” Wonderful! Then he starts off chapter 3 by making a golden image and commanding everyone in his kingdom to bow down to it. Not so good!

This is the place that we find the three companions of Daniel: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They faced a life and death decision-would they take the “easy way out” and bow down to the image like everyone else, or would they live by conviction and refuse to worship anything else besides Jehovah God?

They decided to live by conviction and to defy the culture around them. Angrily, King Nebuchadnezzar declares them to face a certain death by fiery furnace. Then amazingly, He asks them, “And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?” Had he not just seen God unlock the secrets of his dream, and had he not just declared Him to be a “God of gods”?  The answer to his question is given throughout the rest of the chapter.

So Who is this God? First, He is the able God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego reply in verse 17, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. . . .” Jehovah God has all power to carry out His will. Nothing can hinder Him.

Second, He is the exclusive God. In verse 18, the men warn that even if God does not choose to deliver them from the fire, they still refuse to worship any other gods. Our God cannot be worshipped along with other things. He must be held in highest esteem, above all else.

Third, He is the present God. Verse 25 details an amazing thing: God was visibly with his men in the fiery furnace. He is not a God that is far off from His creatures; He is Emmanuel, God with us! God is worth serving for that reason alone.

Fourth, He is the most high God. Even King Nebuchadnezzar had to admit that God was indeed the Most High-the greatest (verse 26).

Fifth, He is the personal God. In verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar calls Him the “God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.”  Isn’t it wonderful that our Most High, all-powerful, exclusive God is a personal God-so personal that He can be called my God?

So this is the God that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego risked their lives for! Is what you are living for worth dying for? Life was not very easy for the people in King Nebuchadnessar’s day who always took the path of least resistance, because that path was always changing. Ironically, the three men who did not follow the easy path but lived by conviction, their lives were stable and-believe it or not-easy!