This year, some of us have been going through The Bible Recap. This is my first time to join this amazing and interesting plan, and while some parts are more engaging than others, jumping into the book of Daniel this week has been more intriguing than expected. For those of us who have grown up in the church, his stories of lions and fires and bold faith are woven all throughout children’s Bible lessons.
Yet this week’s commentary on Daniel 3 grabbed my attention and hasn’t let go. We all experience fires and acknowledge we’re in continual battles. We apply the Armor of God in our Holy Barre workouts to remind ourselves that our physical posture is just a reflection of our heart and soul’s current position. There’s a reason the belt of Truth is listed first in the armor, and there’s intention in the placement and alignment of each piece. As a barre instructor, I care way more about the position of your breastplate of righteous and the depth of your gospel of peace than the strength of your upper body and the size of your legs. Because like we say, we promise your muscles will burn. But we pray even more the Lord ignites a fire in your soul that can’t be put out!
Fire has taken on such a new and rich meaning for us over the past four years of Holy Barre gathering regularly, so it’s no surprise that the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego has been enriched recently as well. For those new to such stories, these three guys were some of the best of the best yet stirred up tons of anger within King Nebuchadnezzar for not bowing to his huge gold statue of himself. Since they wouldn’t bow to his statue, the punishment was being thrown into a fiery furnace. Their response is awesome:
But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire — and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
Daniel 3:15b-18 CSB
That’s cocky in the best way possible. Cool tidbits to the story include how the furnace’s temp got bumped up to seven times its normal range, the guys were fully bound by rope prior to be thrown in, and even the men that threw them into the furnace died from exposure to the heat and flames.
But God . . . but God delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the furnace with the Son of God likely being the fourth body seen in the furnace with them. King Neb saw four mean walking around, no longer bound, in an extremely hot furnace. When they came out of the fire, their clothing wasn’t even burned nor smelled like smoke. There’s so much in this story that’s worthy of attention and processing, but here’s the statement from Tara-Leigh Cobble that got me:
‘The only thing the fire did to them was set them free from the things that bound them.’
Tara-Leigh Cobble, The Bible Recap
Boom. ‘The only thing the fire did to them was set them free from the things that bound them.’ I can guess we’ve all experienced fires. Seasons of trial. Seasons of heat. Seasons of refinement. Yet in the fire, His desired result is our freedom. And when we draw near, trusting His fiery power and love, the result is our being set free from something that’s binding us.
Throughout the old testament, fire is also associated with regular sacrifices as a form of worship. Fire refines and restores, just as our laying down our idols and sins as a sacrifice purifies, refines and restores our souls. In the new testament of the Bible, we see our Jesus Christ experience the ultimate fire, resulting in the ultimate sacrifice for your and my ultimate freedom from what bound us.
He sacrificed himself for us that he might purchase our freedom from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people who are his very own, passionate to do what is beautiful in his eyes.
Titus 2:14
Our response? Letting His fire work within us to purify, refine, and restore. We still get to chose how to respond in the fire. May the Lord ignite a fire in our souls that can’t be put out, passionate to do what is beautiful in His eyes and continually freeing us from what binds!
Lord, we thank You for Your power and love. You are a consuming fire Whose desire is for our good, our refinement, and our freedom. May we trust You in each season, the easy and the hard, knowing its all for Your glory and our joy!
Want to come burn bright with us? You can join in person in Edmond OK or check out our online workouts on YouTube. Ready to dig deeper into all things worship, workout, and wellness? Check out https://deeperwellsok.com/. And The Bible Recap begins the New Testament in October so join us there as well! You can access each day’s reading and discussion as a podcast or as a YouVersion Bible Reading Plan.
Burning Bright! 