Hail to the Chief!

Bromeliad, Ginter Botanical Gardens, Richmond, VA

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold…

Daniel 3:1

In his dream, Babylon’s king beheld an image with a gold head, which represented his kingdom.  The rest of the statue represented various other kingdoms which would succeed him.  Apparently the idea of not being around forever didn’t set well with the king, for shortly after the dream sequence, Nebuchadnezzar built a huge, 90-ft. statue on the plains beside Babylon, and constructed the entire image from gold – a  tribute to his everlasting power. 

It is difficult to imagine the magnitude of this spiritual defiance, but Nebuchadnezzar didn’t stop there.  After the statue was completed and set in its place, the king demanded that all of his subjects bow down and worship the image – of himself.  He was not satisfied with the allegiance of the entire kingdom of Babylon.  He wanted to be the object of their worship – the god of their lives.  So the decree went out – to every province and hamlet, to come and worship the statue of this king of kings.  The punishment for disobedience was death.

I’ve often wondered what my own reaction would be to a command that I serve, obey or worship someone or some thing other than the Creator of the universe.  Would I have to sit and think about it?  Ponder my options?  Hope for a way out?  Seek an escape?  Or would I stand tall and say, “No!”  My mind tells me what my answer would be, and my heart assures me that my mind would make the correct choice, but I know so well that the spirit is often willing, but the flesh is weak.

Would I stand firm in my faith, believing that God would rescue me?  Or would I stand firm in my faith without regard to God’s possible intervention? 

Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone.

Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known.

Traditional child's Sunday School song