To take position for Christ

"Nebuchadnezzar, it is not necessary that we answer you on this subject. If it be as you say, our God whom we serve may deliver us from the fiery furnace of fire, and he will deliver us from your hand, Ô king ! And if not, know, Ô king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden statue that you have set up." Daniel 3: 16-18

These words are addressed by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, friends of Daniel, to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Assyria. At the beginning of their deportation, they had been chosen to be brought up at the court of the king. They had already had to take a stand for God. In order not to defile themselves with the refined dishes of the king, they had asked, at the risk of their lives, not to eat.

The opportunities to take up a position for God should not have been lacking, over the years, in the pagan world to which they had been elevated to high state offices (Dan 2.49). But now it is the supreme trial of their faith ; They find themselves, without Daniel, in front of a crucial choice : either worship the huge 30-meter statue that Nebucadnetsar has erected or die burnt alive.

Their succinct answer to Nebuchadnezzar shows both their absolute respect for the commandments of God and complete confidence in him. They do not argue. They even refuse to discuss. Faithfulness is not negotiated with God. Without any hesitation, they take up a new position for God. And they are miraculously delivered to the glory of God (Dan 3: 19-30).

By the grace of God, there is great freedom in many countries to express one's faith. Yet we can find ourselves in circumstances where we must take a stand for Christ. There are words we can not say without expressing our disagreement. There are behaviors that are not reprehensible by the law, but that make our conscience uncomfortable. We have sometimes had to refuse certain propositions of association which would have placed us in the dependence of others. These are opportunities to take a stand for Christ.

Let us take the example of these three young witnesses determined to remain faithful to God. In exposing their lives, they have been able to demonstrate to the most powerful of the kings of the earth the reality of their faith and to render their God to them (Dan. 3:25, 28).

Source (To pleasing the Lord)