Daniel- Purpose to stand in the Fire
We all feel pressure around us; besides the atmospheric pressure of the earth that we have bearing down upon us everywhere, most pressure we feel is from our peers. Peer pressure is a very real thing. We can feel it at work, school, soccer practice, and anywhere else we are with other people.
In Daniel chapter 3 we see peer pressure and the challenges that some young men face that could possibly be some of the hardest and most dangerous peer pressure anyone could face. What we see is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon building a statue of gold and commanding all to bow and worship this graven image. The result of doing so is safety and life, if you don’t to a fiery furnace you go.
Now we see our young men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They have a choice, a choice to obey a king who will kill them or to obey God who may not do anything to save them. These men, however, no matter the cost or pressure; because you know their friends are telling them to do the smart thing. Probably with excuses like; God will understand, God will forgive you…etc. Yet despite the peer pressure these young men decide that they would rather die than disobey God. We need to remember they did not have the Bible or the book of Daniel for all they knew they were going to die. They were willing to stand in the fire. We of course know how this story ends, they don’t burn! In fact they don’t even smell like smoke God protects them from flames and their wrathful king.
So will you stand in the fire? When peer pressure comes, when someone mocks you for your faith or threatens to kill you because of it, will you be willing to stand in the fire and be willing to be burned because of your faith? I know, I will stand with God and if I die because of that stand, well Paul Says it best in Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
By Pastor Thor Williams