Quote for the Day
“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold …”
Today's Prayer
This week focus on your response to God and His power. Ask Him to give you insight into what you should do with what He has given you. Pray for those on the road that God will give them the ability to see His direction in their life.
Daniel 3:1-7
Daniel 3:1-7 (NIV)1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the . 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: 5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”7 Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Message
First, King Nebuchadnezzar finds some young men of the captured nation who perform at a rate 10 times better than all the other wise men in their graduating class. Then Daniel (with his friends’ prayer support) not only interprets a dream, but tells about the dream in great detail without the king telling him the details beforehand. Through all of this, Daniel and his friends tell the king and others that there is only ONE God and all other gods are of no worth. In fact the king believes that their God is the “head honcho” when it comes to gods, but still the king’s response to all this is a little strange. Given all this information and knowledge, what should he do? How about erect a 90 foot statue of a god (or maybe it was really of himself) and tell everyone to bow down to it when the music starts.Seems rational… NOT!King Nebuchadnezzar has not really heard what Daniel has said about God, i.e., God is first, all, and only. Instead the king has continued to worship other gods and kept the real focus on himself and what others think about him. Not only poor leadership, but just plain poor “being”, in God’s eyes. Next week we will see the results of this focus on self, not God. What is your focus this week, God’s will or your own?
