Intentionality or Passivity

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. – Jeremiah 6:16

Want to be intentional? Got a little extra time today? Hang out in the book of Daniel because you’ll find some awesome examples of some guys with rock-solid faith who practiced intentional living in a world trying to lure them into passivity. Let’s hang out for a minute in the story of the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace – I’ll give you a little summary of their back-story to begin – you can read it yourself in Daniel 1)

Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon and has just besieged Jerusalem. He brought Daniel and other young men back to his palace. He didn’t bring them back and treat them like slaves though – “Nebuchadnezzar was a king well-practiced in conquering foes…Instead of killing the royal seed, he courted them. Instead of raising their defensiveness, he lowered their resistance with favors. He took the most intelligent and handsome of Israel’s royal and noble princes and sought to erase their nationality by changing their names, language, and eating habits. He sought to conquer them not with an iron fist, but with a velvet glove” (from Keeping the Secrets of Jesus – D. & D. Glenn).

Let’s stop here for just a moment because I want you to see the parallel between the King of Babylon and the one who had dominion over our world. Satan, like Nebuchadnezzar, is well-practiced in conquering foes – and he very intentionally works to woo Christians into passivity. He does this through the velvet glove of all the worlds riches and favors – food, drink, beauty, material goods and a million messages that tell us everyone is doing it, that tell us that we are bad if we take an intentional stand (especially if it offends) and good if we are tolerant of others and their beliefs. He tells us it is okay to participate in the same things that the world does – as long as we stay on the edges instead of diving all the way in.

And before you know it, you’ve lost your identify as one who is a child of God – you’re cloak of salt and light has been exchanged for the trappings that everyone else in the world is wearing. Welcome to Babylonia – you can do what we do, talk the talk, walk the walk, and we will embrace you like one of our own. You will be comfortable here, you’ll get to enjoy the choice foods and wine. Just forget that you were brought here as a captive or meant to be royalty in another kingdom. Jump right into the pool of passive living – it is so much easier than resistance – feel king of good, really, once you get used to it.

With that parallel in mind, let’s get back to our guys. Daniel and his homeboys resist the temptations set before them. Instead, they cling to their beliefs, to obedience to God’s laws, and they were able to stand when tested. And they where definitely tested. Pick up the story in Daniel 3 – again, I’ll summarize for you.

King Nebuchadnezzar, which no lack of pride, made an idol 90 feet high and nine feet wide and commanded all to fall down and worship the image – this was a way of pledging full allegiance to the newly establish empire (it’s believed that the image was the god Nabu – who forms the first part of Nebuchadnezzar’s name). Anyone who didn’t fall down and worship was told that hey would be thrown into a blazing furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego where having none of that – not only did they remain true to who they where when not facing adversity, but in the face of a fiery furnace, they make this statement – one of the hugest statements of faith in scripture:

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 images of gold you have set up.
– Daniel 3:17-18

Oh, how I would love to always have a faith like that! They had a faith that God would come through – they proclaimed that faith with certainty. They had a faith that was to intentional and dedicated to the Holy sovereignty of God, that they refused to serve or worship any other god even if their God didn’t deliver in the way they expected. Why – because they knew and trusted the wisdom and purpose of God’s sovereign purpose.

Notice, they didn’t panic, they didn’t try to talk the king out of his decree or reason with him. They didn’t try to take things into their own hands or try to plan their own escape. The simply did two things. The trusted and the stood – and God showed up and stood with them. The results – God’s sovereign power to save is revealed and God is glorified. Check it out:

“Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants. They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces of rubble, for no other god can save this way.’ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.” – Daniel 3:28-30

Ever feel like God has placed you in a fiery furnace. I think we’ve all been there at one – or several points in our lives. Some of us are in one right now. But here’s my question – How is your faith standing up in the face of the furnace? Are you trusting God’s sovereignty, his wisdom, his purpose – his promise that he will never stop doing good for you? Or have you decided that perhaps he isn’t everything he said he is. Is your furnace turning you in the direction of serving and worshiping other gods. Is your furnace causing you to rebel? Do things your own way? Reach out desperately for anything that will reinforce you, make you feel significant, make you feel okay just for a little while?

Friends – you need to know that you can have the kind of faith these men did. God doesn’t work this way for just the chosen people – God works this way for all who fully put their trust in the sovereignty of God. But you can’t live a passive faith, being wooed by the world into forgetting what you stand for, and stand up to the fire. You MUST be intentional.

You can experience the Kingdom of God while living in a different kingdom like these men in the book of Daniel – but you can’t expect God to just bring it to you. God wants your active participation. Take a note from those who have been able to stand in the face of the furnace. Take note from those who proved that it is possible to live a life of faith – through every conceivable spiritual assault – and experience victory. But you have to be prepared for the battle. Here’s what they did:

They refused to defile their bodies according to the royal food of the king, but rather they consecrated themselves and their bodies to God. They fasted and as a result God gave them spiritual insight. Their treatment of their physical bodies was part of their spiritual training.

They bowed the knee in prayer. Daniel himself, in the face of death, bowed his knees before God three times a day in prayer. Notice, it doesn’t say just that he prayed – but that he bowed the knee in a posture of submission and worship.

They surrendered their all to God – even their very lives. Through consecration and through prayer, their faith was so solid that they trusted God with their lives – literally.

Faith, obedience, blessing – this is theme of their story. And through them - their intentional faith, their battles, and their victories, God’s glory and sovereignty are revealed time and time again.

Will you be wooed into passivity, or choose this year to rededicate yourself to being consecrated to God, to living a life of prayer, to allowing him to sanctify you through and through, to surrendering your life to his sovereign will for the display of his power and glory through you?

Today's post was submitted by Carol Bartels