Week 29 - Obeying God
“To obey is better than sacrifice…” (I Samuel 15:22)
Tension is running high. The heat is on. Will they obey God or man? We know the story too well. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose to obey God rather than man. For that, they were thrown into a furnace that was heated seven times hotter than usual.
Look at the reply they gave to the king: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 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 image of gold you have set up” (
In the early church, Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, found himself in a similar situation. Only this time there was no need for a furnace. Church history reveals to us that when the Roman persecutor pressed him, and said, “Swear, and I will release thee, revile Christ,” Polycarp said, “Eighty and six years have I served him, and in nothing hath he wronged me and how, then, can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?” One or two years after this incident, in 155 or 156 AD, Polycarp died a martyr. He was burned alive at the stake. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were spared but Polycarp was sacrificed. They all obeyed God rather than man. They all knew whom they would die for and therefore knew whom they would live for.
Someone who is worth dying for is worth living for.
Can we stand the heat of “persecution” in modern-day Singapore? Recently, a preacher suggested that if we are not experiencing any persecution at all, then something is wrong. As I thought about it, it seems to me that yes, Christians still face persecution today but perhaps in a subtle way — a call to go easy on our walk with God or to deny Christ.
In what ways can we avoid denying Christ? Two suggestions came to my mind.
Firstly, we must not be a secret believer. Do our colleagues and neighbours know that we are believers? If they don’t, perhaps we should introduce ourselves to them as Christians. Let them know that we are followers of Christ and that we would be more than happy to show them how they too can be followers of Christ.
Secondly, we must not be a compromising believer. Do we forsake our Christian principles when we find ourselves in a situation such that holding on to them may cost us problem?
Jesus said that we are to be “the light of the world” and “the salt of the earth” (
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us encourage one another to obey God and live for Him.
Are you feeling the heat? Turn your eyes upon Jesus.