A World Changer's Devotion

World Changers in the Bible part 2

Shadrach, Meshach And Abed-nego: Make No Compromise

     Those guys were like men of steel. They were in a country called Babylon where everybody worshipped idols. In this case, they were all worshiping a tall idol in the shape of Nebuchadnezzar, the king. Everyone in Babylon had been commanded to worship this idol whenever certain instruments were played (music led them to evil). The penalty for disobedience was death by burning. However, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refused to compromise. They refused to give in, even though there was peer pressure all around them. They could have compromised, and no one would have noticed. Yet they refused because they had made a greater commitment to God.

     The climax of the story comes in Daniel 3:16-18. Basically, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego faced the king and refused to bow to an idol. They told him they had a LIVING GOD in their lives. They refused to compromise any of their love of God by bowing down to anything else.

     Today in this world, all kinds of things can easily become idols. These are things that we love just as much as or more than God. It is a tragedy, but we even bow down to them. You say, "How do we bow down to them?" By giving them our time and by pouring our money to them. We think about them so much, they become idols to us. We end up compromising our true passionate love for the Lord. Even at the risk of their own lives Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego said, "We will not bow even if it means you kill us. Even if our God does not save us, we will not bow." (3:16-18)

     The character quality to see in their lives is their unwillingness to compromise by having idols. If you are going to do something great for God, you need to have a pure love for God and refuse to have any idols in your life.

     Refuse to give your heart to anything like you give your heart to Jesus. Refuse to give your time and your commitment to anything like you give both to Jesus. The thing I want you to see is that these three guys had been taken to a foreign country. They were World Changers. They were making a difference. They were helping people to see that God was alive. They were showing Him to people who had never had a chance to know Him before.

Joshua 24:14-15

    "Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped... and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seem undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

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Timothy: Have A Servant's Hear

     Timothy was a young man who grabbed a hold of God and served Him every chance he had. He was a guy who was not afraid to bend over backward to work his heart out for God. Timothy was a young man when Paul first met him. We can see in Acts 16:1-3 that Paul could tell right away that Timothy had a heart to serve. Paul wanted to take Timothy with him on his travels. That began a life of adventure for Timothy. The Bible says that he started traveling with Paul everywhere he went.

     When Paul and his companions went to Berea, Paul's life was in danger and he had to leave. Silas and Timothy stayed behind in Berea to keep ministering, but Paul keep an instructions for them to come as soon as they could (Acts 17:13-15). When Silas and Timothy came to Macedonia and Corinth to meet up with Paul, they took care of other matters so that Paul could do all the preaching. Timothy and Silas were getting all the rest of the work done (Acts 18:5).

     Acts 19:22 tells us that Paul sent two of his helpers, one of whom was Timothy, to Macedonia to minister in his place. So we see that Timothy started to represent Paul. When Paul couldn't go, he could send Timothy  because Timothy was such a faithful servant. We read in Acts 20 that Paul included Timothy with him on a major outreach. Timothy, like Jesus, had a heart to serve, and as a result, Paul could trust and take him wherever he went.