In our current message series on the book of Daniel called Living With Lions we were first introduced to the Lion of Ambition. Last week, we met the second lion, the Lion of Control. This week, Pastor Bart talks about the third lion, the Lion of Conformity.

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Read
Daniel 3:1-6

¹King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. ²Then he sent messages to the princes, prefects, governors, advisers, counselors, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. ³When all these officials had arrived and were standing before the image King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, ⁴a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! ⁵When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. ⁶Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Reflect

Before I started taking God seriously, I was presented with many examples of His power and love. I was either stubborn or dumb, but I just didn’t get it. I am so thankful that we have a patient and loving God who wants a relationship with us. He will always provide us with confirmation that he loves us and is always in control.

If we look back to the end of chapter 2, we read King Nebuchadnezzar saying, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.” It is somewhat astounding then when we read in the very next chapter, the king made a gold statue and commanded everyone to worship it. Some Greek interpreters place this about 18 years after his dream. Looking at his actions, we can conclude that the king must have been just stating a fact after witnessing God’s miraculous power. It didn’t change his life. The king still wanted control and he decided to bring his entire kingdom into one central religion. The king sought glory instead of giving God glory.

As we will find out, God will demonstrate once again to King Nebuchadnezzar that He is in control.

Respond

1. How has God shown you His love and patience?
2. If King Nebuchadnezzar had seen God’s power, how could he create an idol and command others to worship it?
3. What attributes of God do we see demonstrated in this story?

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