Fiery Furnace Faith. The only faith worth passing on to our children.
My father was a man of God. One of the best examples of following Jesus Christ I have ever seen. He was very flawed and wonderful all at the same time because of the redemptive work of God in his life.
This is the faith–fiery furnace faith–that my Dad passed on to us. Dad would have died for his faith. He took some real “hits” during his lifetime for this faith with no regrets. I remember a very good job that he lost because his employer changed the rules and a few years down the road demanded that Dad work almost every Sunday. They didn’t want to fire Dad; wanted him to quit but he would have no part of that. Sticking to his principles he did.
He, and we as a family, paid a financial price for the next several years because of this but Dad had no regrets, and I am so proud of him for that.
In Daniel 3 we see three Jewish men who had been through terrible upheaval in their young lives. They went from royalty and nobility to captive slaves in the blink of an eye. But they bounced back and with God’s blessing were prospering in this foreign land.
Only to have their entire lifestyle and lives threatened again.
So would they be willing to give up everything as their new king demanded service and worship to a golden image? Or would they compromise, rationalize and hang on to what they had?
In evangelicalism we make too many deals. We proclaim lives of love and faithfulness, but do we hold true? And if we do not hold true, then what exactly have we passed on to our children?
Fiery Furnace Faith–The Only Faith Worth Passing On!
Message Title: Fiery Furnace Faith
Message Text: Daniel 3:1-30