19Jan17

Daniel 3:17-18
"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Compromise. We are told by relationship professionals that compromise is the key to a happy healthy marriage, workplace contentment, familial harmony, and many other things. The problem is that we are consistently told that we need to yield in so many areas of our lives for other peoples' benefit and to ensure that they are not "offended" by us that it slowly seeps into our faith. Forget that. It doesn't slowly seep... it makes a quick jump. I was challenged on this while leading the Garrison's high school boys in Bible study last night. In Daniel chapter 3 we see the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being told they have to bow down to the golden statue of the king they, and their nation, is enslaved by. When they refused due to their faith in God, they are given one more personal chance by the king. But, they respond with the above passage of Scripture. They don't make excuses. They don't rationalize their position. They could say something like, "well, God's forgiving. I can just do this and ask for forgiveness." They don't rationalize and say, "I can do so much for my country and my faith in the position I'm in. If I do this then I can do so much more good later on." Nope. They don't compromise and they are thrown in a furnace to die. You can read the rest of the story from there. But, today I want you to think about where you are compromising. Are you willing to die for your faith? Are you willing to live for it? What is it that you rationalize doing in your own life?