Are You "Ready" to Die?

This week, we open up the beautiful book of Daniel, chapter three. Here we find Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced with a life-or-death scenario, one in which they give no indication they needed "more time" to think about their fateful answer. Putting yourself in their shoes, might you answer the same, or differently?

The account of these three men, King Nebuchadnezzar, and the fiery furnace is one of my favorites in all the Old Testament. It - like every good story - has a great setting, a great conflict, and a great resolution. It has the powerful bad guy, a kingdom of misled loyal servants, a conspiracy plot, upstanding main characters, the threat of brutality, escape from certain death, and much more.

But unlike many other great stories, the moral of this one isn't the "uplifting, feel-good" type you might expect. Many great stories end with the good guys running countless times from the bad guys, and finally besting them at the end. Not so with Shad, Meesh, and Abed. Rather, these men of integrity don't run. And they don't fight. And they don't claim any victory. Instead, they leave their fate in the hands of the one true God. From every angle upon which to view this account, the moral of the story is this: Are you ready to die?

I've heard many times people say, "I can't wait for Jesus to come back!" But every time I hear it, I wonder if they mean it. Wouldn't we want to set our house in order first? Make sure those behind us are cared for long after we're gone? Indeed, these are noble, responsible concerns that should be taken care of. But they don't truly answer the spiritual (and more significant) part of the question.

I hope to see you Sunday, where we wrestle with the text, and focus on individually answering this great question!