Strongly Agree - Strongly Disagree
Earlier this year I bought a new shed. The old one was 16 years old and had started to rot in several places. The very windy weather we had back in February, ripped the asphalt roof off, so it was time for a replacement.
After doing some online searching (as you do) I ended up ordering my new shed and it was delivered by a very friendly man who had just started work for the company. I was his first customer!
I got somebody to put the shed up, as that kind of thing is well beyond my capability. Then I had the joy of putting everything back in the shed in a very orderly way.
Recently I received a questionnaire asking me to rate the product and my experience. I’m sure you have done this kind of thing, where you are asked a series of questions, and you have a range of options from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’.
I filled it in and have been entered into a prize draw! I never knew I had such strong feelings about a shed… LOL!
In the Bible there is a book called Daniel, which records what happened to the man in the title and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These four men had been taken from Jerusalem after the Babylonian Empire had destroyed it, around 530 BC.
Whilst in Babylon these four Jews remained loyal to God, and did not yield to their captor’s foreign gods. This came to a head when King Nebuchadnezzar built a 90 foot golden statue and ordered everyone to bow down and worship it – if not they would be burnt alive in a furnace.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to do this and said to the King…
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 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.””
The King was infuriated and ordered that they be cast into the fire. But God miraculously rescued them, and because of that, King Nebuchadnezzar converted to worshipping the God of the Jews!
These three men ‘strongly disagreed’ with the Kings orders, and their bold conviction was tested to the limit. But they ‘strongly agreed’ and stayed true to what they believed and there were two outcomes:
Firstly, God saved them from certain death. Secondly the pagan King was so amazed that he could not doubt the existence and power of God and so he became a believer as well. What an incredible outcome!
I hope that you and I will never face that kind of an ordeal. Yet in our lives we may face things where we must decide what we ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’ with.
May we have the courage of our convictions, to stick to what we believe no matter what. By doing so we may well be a living ‘sign’, to those who don’t know God, of what is important to us. God may use that, and perhaps they too will become believers?
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader