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Spare Change - November 2023

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Recently I was studying Daniel 3, the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol.  The heroes of this story are three Jewish young men: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  These three young men stand up to enormous religious persecution and refuse to worship the king's idol.  This story inspires courageous faith in Christians.  We are challenged to stand up for what we know to be right according to God’s Word in the face of worldly pressures.

This story is full of application, especially if you study a little about these three young men in Daniel Chapter 1.  In these verses you will realize that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were exiles from Judah.  God used Babylon to punish His people for their idolatry.  In doing so they conquered Judah and exiled numerous people.  As a part of this exile, the King selected many young men to come and be trained in Babylon so they could serve in his kingdom.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not the only ones taken from Judah.  You have heard about Daniel, but there were others. 

This is interesting because in Chapter 1 they experience their first test.  They were expected to eat the king’s food.  This food did not conform to the food laws that God had given His people.  It would be a sin to eat this food.  Of all the Jews there only Daniel and the three young men stood up for their faith.  In this situation God blessed them and they succeeded in gaining favor with their captors.

Again, they are tested in Chapter 3 when they are told they must bow down to the king’s idol.  Daniel is not present in this situation, presumably he is handling matters
elsewhere for the king.  We know from other examples that he would not bow down to the idol.  He would have stood up for his faith just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did; however, one must ask the question, “were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the only Jews present?”  Doubtless there were others, but for fear of death they chose sin. 

I am sure the peer pressure for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have been enormous.  Just three men standing in a sea of idol worshippers.  They probably felt alone and afraid.  I am sure the other Jews looked at them as if they were crazy.  Many of them probably rationalized their sin because all they had to do was bow down. They could bow their knees without bowing their hearts…right?!

Jesus was clear in Luke 9:26, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”  Denying Jesus in any form, even bodily, is still sin.  What the other Jews did on that day, in the Plain of Dura in Babylon by worshiping the idol, was sin. What Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did was stand up for their faith.  They are clearly the example we should be looking at in this story. 

What happens when we face peer pressure to sin? Do we have the same courageous faith to look our friends, family, or coworkers in the eye and say I will not deny my God?  Are you prepared to stand alone?  Every Christian is called to have courageous faith even if we are threatened with persecution.  The world will try to attack you in many ways.  They will threaten your family, job, and personal well-being. Friends and family might ostracize you; they might even threaten you with death.  What will you say in those moments?  You need to decide now what you will do.  Our Lord, Jesus, gave everything for us, we must be willing to stand up for Him!

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Luke 9:24-26

Posted by Bryan Gotcher with

Spare Change - October 2023

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I was reminded this week in my devotion time how quickly we can turn away from the Lord.  I was reading through the life of Solomon and in the first several chapters of 1 Kings I read about how Solomon spent his life honoring the Lord.  In chapter 3 God came to Solomon in a dream and told him to ask for anything he desired.  He asked for wisdom which pleased God.  He gave Solomon great wisdom and as a bonus long life and riches.  Solomon grew into the wisest, most powerful, wealthiest king to ever live.  He was able to build a great temple for the Lord in Jerusalem.  He was recognized by all people to be a great and wise king, however he turned away from God.  What happened?

In 1 Kings 11 we see a drastic change.  Solomon turns from the Lord and begins to worship false gods.  The scriptures say that the reason was because he married many
foreign women.  It is recorded that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  These women were from all over the world and when they came they did not assimilate to the Jewish religion.  Instead, they kept their religious preferences and were allowed to continue to worship their own gods.  This was the reason that God forbade the Jews to marry from other nations.  There were rare examples of foreign women marrying Jewish men, but they were assimilated into the Jewish faith like Ruth and Rahab.  

Overall, God wanted to encourage full fidelity to Himself which meant His people must not worship foreign gods.  For Solomon the influence of the foreign women was too much.  He built altars to the gods and allowed his wives to make sacrifices and offerings.  This caused the downfall of Solomon and resulted in the kingdom being split.  His unfaithfulness to God caused so much pain and suffering for himself, his family, and the people of Israel.

It is amazing to me that Solomon, a once great man of God, fell so hard and so quickly.  For all his wisdom he forgot one thing - stay vigilant.  From Jesus to Peter and even Solomon himself we are encouraged to keep watch and stay vigilant.

  • Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
    - Mark 14:38
  • Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. - 1 Peter 5:8
  • Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. - Prov. 4:23

There is a real danger in letting our guard down.  Christians, we must remain vigilant against the schemes of the devil.  He loves nothing more than to tempt us to fall and cause destruction in our lives.  Often this fall does not just affect us, it ripples out to many others in our lives.  In the case of Solomon, it affected an entire nation.  What could he have done differently; how could he have avoided such pain and destruction?

To avoid this, you must know what you believe and refuse to compromise.  Solomon knew the right thing, he was the wisest man to live, but he refused to stand on that truth. Instead, he compromised his beliefs and turned away from the Lord to false idols.  This is a good reminder for us, first we must know what we believe.  Do you believe the truth that is found in God’s Word?  You too can be wise if you will read it, study it, memorize it, and live it.  Second, you must refuse to compromise from what you know is right.  Solomon had 1000 women vying for his attention, that was enough to distract him.  The world is constantly trying to distract you.  We must remain vigilant and not get distracted to the point we fall like Solomon.  Don’t think it can’t happen to you.  Stay vigilant and keep your feet firmly planted on the Word of God, you can stand no matter what challenge comes your way.

Posted by Bryan Gotcher with

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