Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

I recently read in my daily devotion from Daniel 3, which is about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into a furnace six-times hotter-than-normal because they did not fall down and worship a golden image when directed.

The furnace was so hot that when the three men were tossed into the furnace, the people throwing them into the furnace died from the magnitude of the heat. During this experience, these men were joined by another supernatural being.

When the instigator of this event, King Nebuchadnessar, saw there were four and not three in the furnace, he realized he had done something terribly wrong.

He realized the God of the three men was a mighty God indeed. He ordered them to come out of the fire-billowing furnace.

Now, having ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) my mind wandered as it usually does. First, I thought why doesn’t the Bible say anything about the King getting burned as he neared the furnace to tell the men to come out?

Second, I thought about a huge flame I passed in the past on the way to work at a garbage dump. Being cold-natured, looking at the flame always made me feel warmer. While hell does not interest me in the least, warmth does, but not to the magnitude of hell. I do, hope and pray, that heaven will be the right temperature for us all—not too cold and not too hot. In a perfect place, I see no need for thermostats and people forever changing them. Third, I thought about people dying.

People die in a lot of different ways. The thoughts that come to mind are images of the Twin Towers, images of plane crashes, images of bomb explosions, images of car accidents, images of a home burning up with occupants inside, and the list goes on and on. Death can be horrific for some, can it not? With this in mind, I leave you with some thoughts about our bodies at the time of their physical death.

Is there a reason why some people refuse to be cremated while others would never consider this? Is there a reason why some people refuse to let their organs be donated at the time of death? Is there a reason some people refuse to let their bodies be donated to science and research at the time of death?

Look at the many ways a physical body can be disposed. One way or another, it returns to dust, eventually. Yet, we seem to want our bodies as close to normal as possible at death. In the scheme of things, is this really important?

Is it not our souls that the Lord is interested in? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not worried about their bodies. They were more interested in honoring their God. Regardless of what happened to their bodies, they knew that God was in control and would take care of them. We should do no less.

Wherever you are at in your relationship with God, I hope it is one of preparation. For we know not how and when physical death may come to any of us. Having our soul and faith right with the Lord should be our greatest concern. Amen.