TO CONFORM OR NOT!

Have you ever known anyone that would never follow the rules or laws and just seemed to live in their own little world? Doesn’t that just make you so mad? Well, can you imagine how king Nebuchadnezzar felt when the three Jewish boys that he was giving a second chance too, chose to blatantly disobey his order to fall down and worship the ninety foot high and nine foot wide image that he had set up? Can you believe the audacity of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? After all, didn’t the king give them an honored place in his kingdom and food from his own table? He even set them up to rule over the affairs of the province of Babylon! Who wouldn’t jump at an opportunity like that?

Even knowing that they would be immediately thrown into a burning furnace, these three Jewish boys chose to honor God and the law that He gave to Moses "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them.....” Ex 20:4-5. When king Nebuchadnezzar called the three to his throne room to question them about why they disobeyed his command they told him “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Dan 3:17-18. Well, you know the rest of the story. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the burning furnace and they were not harmed at all. The hair on their heads was not even singed! These three boys didn’t know if they would die a horrible death or not, but they did know that worshipping an idol was completely against God’s law and they knew that conforming to king Nebuchadnezzar’s law was wrong!

As Christians, we tend to live in our own little world but, unlike Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we tend to conform to rules, through our silence, even if the rules go against God’s law. What about the laws that we have allowed our government to enact over the years and are now a part of society’s fabric? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to start a rebellion here...but if it is morally wrong and goes against God’s Word....then it is.....wrong! The question each of us must ask ourselves today is whether or not we will obey our God by not conforming and speaking out when we see something that we know is morally wrong or choose to conform through our silent acceptance.

Right now we can conform through our silence and with very little consequence to ourselves. But one of these days, there will come a time when every human will have to make a life or death choice....to conform or not to conform. The Bible tells us that there will be a future day when not bowing down to an idol will be immediate death. We already know what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would do. What will you do?


Bible Verse taken from the New International Version
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