Title: The Old, Old Story / Topic: Transforming Truth

Today’s Reading: Daniel 3; Daniel 4; Psalm 81; Revelation 17

Scripture: Daniel 3:24-27
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?"
They replied, "Certainly, O king."
25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!"
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Observation: "Tell me the old, old story..." That's a line out of the old hymnal that I remember singing in church when I was a kid. And reading this story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego brings back memories of Sunday School class and the flannelgraph. The teacher took a cutout of the "three Hebrew children" and laid it in the middle of another cutout of a fearful-looking "flaming furnace." They were all tied up with lots of rope as they went in. (They got thrown into the furnace because they refused to worship the king's golden idol.) Then another cutout was substituted for the first one showing the three boys standing and smiling with no ropes binding them. Last, the teacher pulled them out of the furnace, like they were walking out, and they stood next to the image of the king and the large, golden idol. I love this old story!

Application: I love it because it teaches so many great spiritual and character lessons: courage, not yielding to peer pressure, God's power to protect, how God's truth trumps the enemy's blustery lies, and many more -- these are all there in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And while I have heard this story dozens of time, I still have something to learn from it. I always hoped I would have the courage to stand alone against the king and all the people with him. I pray that I would.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for these three Hebrew children that still teaches me about courage, and faith, and what it truly important. And thank You that truth endures. Help me to apply these lessons today and every day.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.