90 Feet Tall and 9 Feet Wide

Daniel 3:18

“But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

In the movie Shopaholic, John Goodman plays the dad to a shopper who is out of control. The shopaholic, played by Isla Fisher, has racked up a huge amount of debt on credit cards. At her lowest moment while at home, she tells her dad that she is sorry for failing and for the strain it puts on the family. John Goodman defiantly states, “Nothing defines me except you and your mother!” We all have a place that we call ground zero. For Ms. Bloomwood, it was her debt, for her father, it was his family.

We all have heard the story of the big statue that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down to, and how they were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship it. A great miracle took place, and they were saved from the fiery furnace. But today, I would like us to take up camp before the furnace scene, before the big meeting with the king and the open rebuke and refusal that led to the furnace.

Yes, I want to focus on the statue. It was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. To put things in perspective, the Statue of Liberty is 152 feet from the floor to the top of the flame. Her head would be about 90 feet tall. You can see the Statue of Liberty from a long way off. The statue in Babylon must have been majestic, all covered in gold with sunlight reflecting off of it. It would have been the first thing you’d see from a distance.

Part of me does not get it. All they had to do was bow down and act like they were worshiping. We’ve all done that at church, right? We come into a large building with music and people, and worship is going on, and we kind of sing, just enough to make an effort. I’m sure many of the people gathered that day did just that. Death was a real good reason to fake some worship, if you know what I mean, but not for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Just like Mr. Bloomwood had a different definition of what defined him, these three men walked up to the huge statue knowing what defined them, and it was not the 90-foot golden statue or their fear of death. With hundreds of other leaders around bowing down, they refused.

We are going to have life throw up 90-foot-tall statues in front of us, and while everyone around us may bow down, we are called to stand. Rack, Shack, and Benny, as VeggieTales names them, were willing to stand up in the face of everyone else bowing down.

My favorite verse of all time is the one above, “But even if He does not….” Are you willing to say this while facing the furnace of your situation? Does your faith in Jesus begin and end with you, or are you going to stand firm on Christ, no matter if your friends turn up the heat seven times hotter? Are you willing to watch your friends burn other people just to get to you? “We want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

What defines you? Stand up for Christ and do not reject Him. Christ is larger than your fire, He is larger than the peer pressure you feel, He is larger than the no-way-out scene you are in right now. “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” Jesus is right there with you, even in the fire.

The real test comes before the fire. Do you stand up for Jesus before the fire? That is a question you must ask yourself every morning.

Prayer: Father, help us stand up for Christ and our belief in Him no matter what. Help us not to cower in fear of what others may think. Help us to stand up and say, “I believe in Christ, and I read the Bible every day. I believe it is the inspired word of God, written by the finger of God through men.” I pray for boldness and strength. In Jesus’ name, amen.