“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.” Daniel 3:18 (KJV)

“If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” —Alexander Hamilton; this adage clearly points out that we must take courage and stand on our convictions. The fact is when we lay down our principles; we have lost our character or who we really are.

The account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being cast into the fiery furnace provides for us what courage and confidence in God looks like in dismal circumstances. They stood on their belief in God; the refusal to serve another God was a life-or-death situation. However, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not hesitate whether they should comply or not.

The penalty for not serving the “gods” of Nebuchadnezzar was sudden death in the fiery furnace; but these men did not waver in their faith. The response given to Nebuchadnezzar speaks volumes of where their hearts lied: Daniel 3:17-18 (KJV) “If it be so, our God whom we serve can 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.”

In other words they were saying, If it be so, or if it is in the will of God for us, our God will deliver us this day out of your hands, because He is able…and if He chooses not to, we will still not bow down to your gods and worship your golden image; and as the scriptures give us the end of this account, God delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego out of the fiery furnace that day! There is

Where do you stand? Will you hold to your convictions and courage in God? God is able to deliver His children one way or the other. Just like the three Hebrews boys, we must stand and say if He will or if he will not, He is still my God and whatever way he chooses to deliver me, I am on the Lord’s side! “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37.

Let us strive to remain humble in our replies, but we must have absolutely no doubt about our obedience to God! Acts 5:29 (KJV) state: “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men.” Our God is sovereign and omnipotent are you standing on the Lord’s side!

God blessings of peace and joy be with us all.