Bow down

Just read Daniel 3, I love the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Nebuchadnezzar makes a huge statue everyone in his empire has to bow down to it, if they don't they get chucked in the fire.

It got me thinking......

This statue was large, 25 metres!

Some people could see the statue others couldn’t hence the music, but they all bowed down, some peoples statues are visible some aren’t.

Possibly more people bowed down who couldn’t see it than those who did. More of us have hidden statues that visible ones.

What are the statues in my life I bow down to?

I found my self asking; what has been made big in your life,Brian?

is it something external or is it something internal,

is it a way you react or a way you act,

is it something you desire or

is it something that has happened to you.

It could be consumerism, image, ambition, pride, or just waist size (sad but I do worry about looking fat!!!)

We all have things that are big to us they loom like large statues in all our lives, and I imagine we do battle quite often with specific statues in our lives. We all have different statues.

Some of us can’t understand why so and so struggles with such and such. Our struggles and statues tend to quite specific to us.

Although I think there are 3 major ones, lust, money and pride. Or as the Kanasas City prophets used to say “Girls, Gold and Glory”

I guess we have faced a lot of statues and dealt with them. Yours might be more of a garden gnome but we all have them.


I need to take a stand against the statues in my life

These three boys wouldn't bow down!

For Shadrach Meshach and Abednego it was easy for them to recognise the statue and in all honesty I am very aware of statues in my life.

For some of us we have things that have a stronghold over us for others we have might have smaller statues.

This is the best bit:“O Nebuchadnezzar, 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 want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Whether God delivers me or not I refuse to bow down anymore.

Sometime we get miraculous intervention, sometimes we don’t.

Sometimes we get prayed for and things happen, sometimes we get prayed for and thing don’t happen.

Whatever happens I need to take a decision not to bow down.

Interestingly they were not on their own. It was three of them who stood in the kings presence and refused to bow down.

With the statues in our lives we sometimes need other people to stand with us.

Galatians 6: 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

I can’t stress how important this is, whether it be a spouse, or a friend or a group of friends we will need other people to stand with us as we face the big and small statues in our lives. One of the worst things that could happen is that you think, no one else has a statue like this, if I told people about my statue they would laugh, ridicule or condemn me. Don't believe the myth.

I'm not going to bow down.