A Christians voice
Daniel 3:12-18,28-30 [12] There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. [13] Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. [14] Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? [15] Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well : but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? [16] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. [17] If it be so , our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. [18] 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. [28] Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. [29] Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. [30] Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon.
We see here the story of the 3 men who simply made a stand for God. They were placed in a spot where they were to worship a golden image at the sound of musick. Daniel 3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
In today’s society we may not be forced to worship a golden image, but we do have many things being forced upon us and told we have to accept! I’m afraid over time this has come about because we refuse to be willing to take a stand as Christians. Taking a stand doesn’t mean we have to be rude or make a scene. We don’t have to hold a protest or shout it from the mountain tops. If we’d be willing to take a stand in simple things we have no idea the affect it could have on this world. What if:
-we didn’t accept social drinking -we walked away from the dirty jokes at work or speak up so that those things aren’t even told around us -we refrained from talking and acting like the world -we turned off those shows that promote ungodliness(homosexuality, etc.) -we let it known to schools that we aren’t accepting the promotion of these things. Have you ever emailed child’s school and let them know you are offended -we were willing to leave tracts at a table, in the drive-thru, in a bathroom, just anywhere. -we spread The Word instead of gossip -we did as these 3 men and just said simply:no, I will not support this thing. -we let our politicians know by phone or email that we are tired of the things that are running rampant in this world
No it won’t be easy, and we might even face a little persecution, but if we want to see things change and see a movement of God then we are going to have to make our voices heard in a variety of ways. When we are willing to take a stand in our everyday lives people take notice. Change won’t come over night. If we will live our lives the way God instructs us to, then people will begin to take notice on how we live and ask questions. That is when we will begin to see change come about. As Christians we do have a voice, and we should be willing to use it for God’s purpose.
May God bless you today! Bro. Josh Richardson
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