One of the most encouraging, motivating, and convicting stories in the Bible to me is Daniel 3. In this chapter, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon orders three Jews—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—to be burned in a fiery furnace.
Nebuchadnezzer was angry because the three Jews had refused to worship his idols. Instead, they were faithful to their God—the one true God. Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the fiery furnace, but they stood strong in their faith.
They said, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).
These men had gone through so much already. The three were in Babylon because they had been taken from their homeland. Their names had been changed, their old identities stripped from them. But they remained steadfast… and bold.
Of course, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t like that.
The king ordered the furnace to be heated to seven times its normal temperature to burn Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The men were bound and tied up, then thrown into the furnace—a furnace that was so hot that the servants who threw the three men in died from the heat.
The three Jews had no way of escape.
But when king Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he saw four men walking around, unharmed. It was Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and someone else—maybe an angel.
The king was amazed and blessed the God of Israel for how He had saved the three men. The Jews had fully trusted in God to deliver them from the furnace—and He did.
What strikes me about this story is not how God delivered the men, though that was amazing. It’s not how Nebuchadnezzar praised God, though that was wonderful. What strikes me about this story is the mens’ faithfulness. They were willing to die for their faith.
So let me ask you… how far would you go to remain faithful to God?
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah “yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God” (Daniel 3:28). Would you do the same?
In Mark 12:30, God tells us to love Him with everything, saying, ”And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Are you willing to deny yourself? To take up your cross daily? To remain faithful to Jesus in every situation, big or small?
If asked, I would say that I would die for my faith like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. I hope and pray that I would. But to know that we would remain faithful to Jesus in the big things, we have to be faithful to Him in the little things.
If I worked in a restaurant and was assigned to wash dishes, but didn’t scrub them correctly, so that when the chef went to plate food there were still bits of food on the dish, would I be trusted to do a bigger job? Would I be trusted to wait tables, host, or cook if I couldn’t scrub a dish correctly?
The answer is obvious—no. Since I couldn’t be trusted in something little, I wouldn’t be trusted with a more important job. In fact, I’d probably get fired if that happened.
So if we’re not faithful in the little things every day—sharing the gospel with people, reading our Bibles, showing love to everyone—why would we expect to be trusted with big things? We’d never have proven that we’re trustworthy.
Are you being faithful in the little, everyday things?
When your brother comes into your room while you’re doing homework, do you snap at him or welcome him and ask what he needs?
When your mom asks you to fold the laundry, do you respectfully obey or argue with her?
When your sister uses that condescending tone of voice that makes you oh-so-annoyed, do you roll your eyes or control yourself?
It’s hard to be faithful in little things. I know from experience. There have been too many times when I’ve been annoyed at my mom over something little, or snapped at my brother when he was bothering me, or ignored my sister when she asked a question. But not anymore.
I want my whole life to be about Jesus. Not just the big things—not only the mission trips, Wednesday nights, volunteering, and Sunday mornings. I want to live for Jesus in the little things, too. The drowsy Monday mornings. When I’m grumpy and haven’t had dinner yet on Tuesday night. When my mom asks me to fold the clothes but I’m in the middle of reading a good book. All the time, everywhere.
So let me ask you again: how far are you willing to go?
Are you willing to obey God in the little things as well as the big ones?
If you’re not willing to be faithful in little decisions, you won’t be faithful in big ones, either. We need to practice faithfulness now.