June 26, 2021
June 26, 2021
Convictions
One of my favorite scenes from the “Avengers” movies is when Loki fights Captain America before Tony Stark flies in to save the day. Right before the fight scene, you’ll remember that Loki stands in front of the crowd and demands that everyone bow to him.
As he gives his ridiculous speech, everyone bows to their knees. All except one man who stands up looks him in the eye and says, “No. I won’t bow to a man like you.”
This had to be what it looked like as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the only ones standing in a sea of people who bowed their knees.
Even when a group of snitches went to the king and said, “These men won’t bow”….(Daniel 3:12)
Even when the king said, “Bow or I’ll throw you into the fiery furnace”…. (Daniel 3:14-15)
Even when they made the furnace ten times hotter—-so hot that even the men who were escorting them to the furnace died from the heat….(Daniel 3:19-20)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, “We won’t bow.”
Today, they stand as an example to all of us who are faced with the temptation to bow in society that has replaced truth with tolerance and demands more and more that we compromise our beliefs to make others more comfortable.
In a world that says, “All roads lead to Heaven, you can’t say that there is only one God and one road to salvation.”
To all who say, “The Bible is old-fashioned…it can't be taken literally…it doesn’t apply to today.”
To all who try to quiet the voice of truth.
To all who want to silence the Church.
To those who want to steal your freedom of religion, your freedom to share the Gospel, and your freedom to assemble for church services, we need to follow the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and say, “We won’t bow.”
We won’t bow to a secular, humanist society.
We won’t bow to atheists who want to remove God from all of society.
We won’t bow to the lies of progressive Christianity.
Whether it be withstanding persecution or standing up to a friend who wants you to agree with them rather than speaking truth of the Bible, in every circumstance, the men in Daniel 3 challenge us to follow their example and say, “We will not bow.”
Memory Verse: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18, NIV)
New International Version (NIV)
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