Some Like It Hot“If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18) In the 1959 Marilyn Monroe classic Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are two musicians who witnessed a mob hit and must flee in an all-female band disguised as women. Not to be outdone, the Bible has a striking story of faithful obedience about three men who liked it hot. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three Hebrews who obeyed God. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon decreed that people in his empire must worship his image of gold (Daniel 3:1), they decided that they would obey the first and second commandments (Exodus 20:3-5) and not worship anything other than God. Their decision actually had been made years earlier by spending time studying the Torah or the Word of God, and their red hot convictions were already in their hearts. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to die for what they believed, and they were delivered from the fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. (Daniel 3:19) They did not bow and they did not burn. God used their faithfulness to influence a godless king, and they went from literally getting fired to a meteoric rise in Babylon. (Daniel 3:30) Each of us must know what our boundaries are in any given situation so we can draw a line in the sand. How far will we go and what will we tolerate from others? Are there sinful practices in our lives that compromise the Word of God? If these issues are not addressed now as we study the Word of God, we will live a life of situational ethics, determining what decision to make based on the merits of the situation. From the brave example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we are to live a life based on obedience to the Word of God and not on situations that can move us based on the outcome. God wants to know that we will stand firm on the issues that are important to Him, that we will obey His Word no matter what the outcome may be so that He can bless us, favor us, deliver us from the furnace, and promote us to even higher positions. God is looking for those who like it hot and are radical in their obedience, and to those who pass the test with flying colors when the heat is on, the richest bounty of heaven are theirs.Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
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