“Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-Nego answered and
said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this
matter. 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 3:16-19
(NKJV)
These three young men essentially just looked at the king and said, “Yes
we have disobeyed your decree but we do not need to explain or defend ourselves
to you. We serve the true God and He can deliver us from anything you do but
even if He doesn’t we will never bow before these idols.”
Hmmm…
Call me a wimp but I would have probably come up with some excuse. “I am
sorry sir but I threw out my back and cannot possibly bow down. You are a great
man though and I thank you in advance for your mercy and understanding.”
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in
this matter” Daniel 3:16 (NIV)
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter”
(NKJV)
Living in a land of provinces and kings you quickly learn only the utmost
respect is shown toward the king. Here a man recently landed himself in prison
for saying something disrespectful.
Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-Nego knew they were sons of the living God and
bowing down to an idol was simply out of the question. They made no excuses for
their actions but instead declared God boldly.
This kind of boldness comes from a place of knowing who you are in Christ. When
you know your identity there is no longer a need to bow to anything or anyone
other than God. You can stand and say, “I do not need to defend myself before
you” and can instead just be obedient to Him.
So who are you in Christ?
- You are someone of worth. (Psalm 139:14; Matthew 10:31)
- You have a future and hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
- You are adopted into the family of God and have an
inheritance. (Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 3:29; 1 Peter 1:3-5)- You are loved. (Romans 8:38-39; John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10,
19)- You are forgiven and cleansed. (1 John 1:9; Colossians
2:13-14)- You are free from condemnation. (Romans 8:1)
- You are empowered to be a witness. (Acts 1:8)
- You are a steward of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians
4:1)- You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:7)
- You are chosen. (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 2:4)
- You are no longer a slave but an heir. (Galatians 4:7)
- You are an important member of the body of Christ (1
Corinthians 12:26-27)
This is only a start to the list. I challenge you to take
the time to search the Scripture for yourself and see who it says you are in
Christ.
This has been something that has made a huge impact on me
this year. I still find that I too often bow before pride and fear, but so far it has been four months of learning who I am in Christ and from that place
learning to speak.
