| TODAY'S SCRIPTURE "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-ego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 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, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up. " (Daniel 3:16-18)
TODAY'S WORD , captive within the confines of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, and Daniel could have easily been bitter against God. They could have cried out, "Lord, this isn't fair. We didn't sin against you. It was our parents, our grandparents, and our great grandparents. It's not our fault. How come we are reaping the consequences?"
There are people today who will blame all of their problems on everyone but themselves. "The reason I am so messed up," they'll say, "is because of my mother, or my father, or my friends from high school. They wounded my inner child." There is an Eagles song that speaks of this dysfunctional nonsense where we blame everything on something else and nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions. The chorus of the song goes, "Get over it. Get over it." And that's what we need to do. Get over it. We need to stop blaming everybody else for our problems.
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego could have blamed their ancestors for their present conditions. Instead, they recognized God was with them. God would see them through. "We have our values," they said, "We have our convictions. Our world may have changed, but we are going to move forward."
These four men of God remained faithful because they had a God to serve and a stand to make. The same should be true for all Christians. No matter the gravity of our circumstances, the God we serve and the stand we are to make should never change.
A PRAYER FOR YOU TODAY Oh Lord, most heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought me to the beginning of this day; I give you thanks for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of my life. Grant that this day I fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all my doings, being governed by your will, may be righteous in your sight. Through Christ our Lord, I pray, Amen. |
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