Our first day of ministry in Thailand, we got to visit a large Buddhist Temple. Everything was laden with gold…fresh flowers everywhere. People came from near and far to worship ornate statues of Buda and the golden pyramid said to contain a fragment of his bone.
I am reminded of a terrible and beautiful event in history.
There was a king who erected a large and beautiful statue of gold. The people would show respect to the king by their reverence for the statue. Whenever the kings song was played, the people would bow down in worship. Anyone who refused to bow down in worship to the statue would immediately be thrown into a blazing fire!
There were 3 men who had great respect for the king, but could not bow down in worship, even for this great man. Their worship was reserved only for the true and living God. The one who made everything that is seen and unseen. The God who created the king and gave breath to his lungs. Jahova God.
When the king heard about the 3 men, he called them to himself and said “Is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the music… if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing fire. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
The men replied… “Oh King, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 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. But even if he does not…we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
The king was furious! How dare these men refuse him, and make such a claim! In a rage, the king ordered the fire heated 7 times hotter than usual. He had the 3 men bound and thrown into the fire by the strongest soldiers. The fire was so hot that the soldiers themselves died from the blazing heat and fell into the fire with the 3 men.
Suddenly, the king leapt to his feat in amazement! “Weren’t there 3 men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” he exclaimed…”Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” The king shouted into the fire “Servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
The men walked out of the fire and approached the king unharmed. Even their clothes were untouched by smoke or fire. The king declared… “praise be to the God who has … rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the kings command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that… no other god can save in this way.”
This is MY God….my God who has saved me from the fires in my life and walked with me through them. My God who has brought me out without the smell of fire in my hair. He is real, and His love for You is real. No other God can save like Jahova God can save :0)
