Long ago in the land of Babylon there lived a great king named Nebuchadnezzar.  He was very powerful and proud man.  One day, he decided to make a huge gold statue.  The goldsmiths worked for weeks pouring molten gold into moulds and hammering the statue into shape.  At last it was finished and what a job it was, to raise it onto its base.

It was enormous, as tall as a ten-storey building.  The king had made sure that everybody would see it from far away.  King Nebuchadnezzar was very proud of his statue and told all the people that it was their idol god.  They were to bow down and worship the statue whenever the horns, pipes, flutes, and other musical instruments played.  Anyone who did not bow down and worship the statue was to be thrown into a fiery furnace!

We do not worship statues and false gods do we?  We only worship our Living God!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three men from Israel who worshipped our true God.  They refused to worship the idol statue.  And so when the music played and everyone else bowed down to the gold statue, only the three young men remained standing.

King Nebuchadnezzar was furious! &mnsp;"Bring those three men to me," he roared.  And so the three men were dragged before the king.  "Is it true that you refuse to worship my statue?" he demanded, "The music will play again and this time you'd better bow down!  Or else, if you don't, I'll have you thrown into a fiery furnace!"

If you had been there, I bet you would have started to shiver in your shoes at about this point.  In those days the king was all powerful and could kill you for no reason at all, or if he just didn't like the look on your face!

Do you think those three men were brave?  Yes, they were.  They just carelessly answered the king and said, "King, you can throw us into the fiery furnace if you want to, for our God can save us!  But even if He doesn't, we will not worship your statue, or even bow down to it!"

The king started to huff and puff and got red in his face.  "Play the music," he roared.  So the music played, "Tra-la-la-la-di-da".   The king carefully watched the three men as everyone bowed down to the idol, that is everyone except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who just stood there smiling!

King Nebuchadnezzar blew his top and thundered, "Stop!  Stop!  Heat the furnace seven times hotter than normal!"  The soldiers rushed to do his orders.  They staggered from the wood pile with huge pieces of wood and stoked and stoked the furnace.  It began to roar and great flames poured out as they threw in great logs of wood.

The flames leaped high in the air.  "Tie up those men, and into the furnace with them!" screeched the king as he jumped up and down with rage.  The soldiers grabbed the three and swiftly bound them with ropes and then threw them into the flames.  But the flames were so hot that all the soldiers were killed instantly!

But, what about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?  The ropes burnt off and they were free, but they weren't burnt at all!  The king could hardly believe his eyes.  He rubbed them hard.  "Didn't we throw three men into the fire?" he gasped, "Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, and the fourth one looks like the Son of God!"

Yes, Jesus was right there protecting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!   The astonished king called the men to come out of the fire.  They walked out praising God for they were not burnt at all, and in fact they did not even smell of smoke!

"Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," the king shouted, "He sent an angel to rescue His servants.  Now listen - I am making a new law right now.  No one in my whole kingdom may say anything bad about the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, for no other god can save His servants like this."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood for what was right, even though they must have been scared.  But, God saw their faith and rewarded them openly, for the king made them rulers in the province of Babylon.  We need to stand up for what's right as well.  God will help us, just like He helped the three Hebrew men in our story.  Ask God to make you bold and proud that you are a Christian.

They totally trusted God to protect them from the wicked king, and Jesus will protect us too.  All we need to do is to ask Him, and then trust Him to answer our prayers.  Let's not forget to say "Thank You" and be grateful for our God who loves and cares for us much.

Be brave and stand up for what is right!

God bless.