Lessons learned from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego

This post may be harder than my original one. I have posted my numbers on my success log. I am almost all the way back where I started. Now that I've said that, I'm not looking back anymore. Onward.

For those of you familiar with the Bible, you may recall the story in Daniel 3 about the three young men who were thrown into a fiery furnace and were not harmed. Veggie tales fans may also know them as Rack, Shack, and Benny. Here's what I learned from their story this week. The story came to my mind as I was preparing to teach a Sunday School lesson, and contemplating the idea of acquiring Godly attributes.  I was thinking about the fact that, for me, life gets easier as I try harder to do what is right. As I draw closer to God, my burdens are lighter. In the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, they had a choice to make. They had to choose between keeping the commandments and getting thrown into a furnace, or denying God and worshipping idols. They chose the furnace. Because they showed faith in God, He protected them from the fire so that they weren't harmed, and sent an angel to be with them. A lot of good things resulted from this, including what I will sum up as religious tolerance. But what I got out of it was a little bit different. What I recognized was that when they willingly chose to follow the Lord and submit themselves to "the refiner's fire," they were not destroyed by it, or even hurt by it. On the contrary, they were protected and sustained, and not only that, they communed with an angel. My take-home from this is that when I willingly choose to do hard things that refine me, I will be protected and sustained by the Lord, and I will commune with Him. As I try to change myself for the better, I don't have to suffer for it. I can be uplifted and strengthened by God as I try to do things that bring me closer to Him.

I hope that made some sense. Those are my thoughts today. I am ready to try harder to change for the better, and look forward to the strength that I feel from the Lord. Have a great day. <3