When ordered by Nebuchadnezzar to fall down and worship the golden image he had made or suffer the consequences, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused. The Hebrew captives explained: "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Dan. 3:17, 18. The three Hebrews would not fall down and worship the golden idol, even if their understanding of God's saving all-power was not sufficient to nullify the flames.
Human reasoning probably offered many excuses for going along with the crowd and worshiping the golden idol. However, the Hebrew captives' bravery and true substance were anchored in the felt substance of God's law. Surely their trust had been forged in previous furnaces of one kind or another. But this one! The hottest and most dangerous!
No matter. Not to trust omnipotence now would be to deny the God they had trusted and proved. Had they glimpsed something of the truth that man's life is eternally spiritual, not even temporarily physical? Christian Science reveals that Life is God, Spirit, Mind, and that the eternal relationship of God and man simply cannot be dissolved. Mrs. Eddy, author of Science and Health, writes, "Life is real, and death is the illusion." Science and Health, p. 428.
Nebuchadnezzar and the men who accused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed life to be physical and destructible. They supposed they could burn up life. How naive! It was they who were living the precarious, insubstantial life, not the Hebrew captives. The Bible indicates that Nebuchadnezzar beheld firsthand the mortal-mind-boggling, saving grace of Christ in the flames with the Hebrew men. Such a sight would certainly give anyone who watched plenty to think about. According to the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar then said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him." Dan. 3:28. And the king decreed that no one should speak against the God of the Hebrews.
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we must continually decide whom we will serve. Will it be Spirit or matter, substance or shadow, divine law or human belief? The world demands, "Either fall down and worship antibiotics, surgery, diet, exercise, hygiene, and so forth, or suffer the consequences."
Under more stringent circumstances than we may ever face, Christ Jesus proved that because Life is Spirit, it is unassailable. He overcame every threat of materiality, including the tomb, by spiritual means alone. He showed that Life and its reflection, man, remain intact forever. Science and Health explains, "He met and mastered on the basis of Christian Science, the power of Mind over matter, all the claims of medicine, surgery, and hygiene." Science and Health, p. 44.
Whenever I have refused to bow down and worship one of earth's golden idols, although threatened with consequences, I have always gained another glimpse of Christ, increased my trust in substance, lost a little trust in shadow.
