TEXT: Daniel 3:14-18 (NLT)
[14] Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up?
[15] I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
[16] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.
[17] If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.
[18] But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
GOD MADE MAN
God created man from the dust of the earth and put the breathe of life in him and man became a living soul. God made man in His own image. But man disobeyed God and was sacked from the garden of Eden. Soon after, men started making gods after their own image and in the image of things created for man to dominate. Men began to worship the things they created with their own hands. They became priests to wood, gold, iron, silver, clay and all sorts of images. Men worshipped snakes, the sun, other men and women like themselves; they worshipped anything their imaginations conjured up. "Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made" (Isa 2:8).
MAN MADE gods
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made a towering golden image and enacted a law that people must worship the image or be thrown into a fiery furnace. Shadrach and his two friends refused to bow to the image Nebuchadnezzar created. He gave them a second chance with a warning: "...if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” (Dan 3:15). He made a mistake as he thought they were worshipping another god like his created image. Their response however corrected this impression: "...If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” What a confident response from children who know who their Father is. There was no shadow of doubt in their minds. Worshipping idols was not an option for them. They made him to realize that there is a difference between his gods and their God.
IDOLS OF THE HEART
Sadly today, many have graduated from idols made from created things to abstract ones. People now worship wealth, power, fame, pleasure, self, etc. Others have created images in their hearts that they worship and adore. Are you worshipping idols created by men or those lodged in your heart? They will only fail you because they have no life in them. Hear what the Almighty God said concerning them: "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it" (Hab 2:19). Idols are deaf and dumb.
THE SUPREMECY OF GOD ALMIGHTY
The difference will always manifest. The three Hebrew boys were thrown into the furnace but nothing happened to them. They walked out of the fire because the Almighty God, the consuming fire was with them in the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar was forced to denounce his idols.
“...Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!” (Dan 3:28-29).
Like Dagon, the idol of the Philistines that fell before the ark of God with limbs and head severed, so will all idols be destroyed before the presence of God. Worshipping idols is an abomination before God. He detest idols and those that make and worship them. Turn to the true God and receive the gift of eternal life.
PRAYER:
Father have mercy upon me and erase every altar of idolatry in my heart in Jesus name.
DECREE:
I will only serve the living God.
God bless you. Shalom.
