Burn Us Up

I have never really had a CD player in my car. Ever. Unless you count a portable one tethered into my cassette tape player. But my new car finally allows my to listen to CDs on the go. So I recently listened to Shane and Shane's Pages. If you've never heard it, you need to at least hear the song "Burn Us Up." It's a song about Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (or Rack, Shack, and Benny.) The song beautifully depicts the scene where Nebuchadnezzer threatened to throw anyone who did not bow to his statue into the furnace. I've always liked the song, but for some reason it struck me in a different way this time.

The bridge of the song starts out by like this:

"You are able to deliver from the fire of affliction!
It's the declaration of my Lord!
You're not an image of gold!
You're the God of Old.
You have made us. Come and save us. We are yours!"

The part that caught my attention is the next line: "but even if you don't." In Daniel 3, the three men say that they will not worship the image of gold. They know that God is able to save them from the fire of the furnace. But they will worship Him only, even if He doesn't. They were much more concerned with the glory and majesty of God then their own safety.

I believe we also need this attitude. If we desire for God's glory to fill the earth, we will begin to care less about our own happiness. We will learn to find joy in Him and not in the world. I also think about John the Baptist, who said "He must become more, I must become less." His goal was not to create a large ministry for himself... he gladly gave this up so Jesus could enter the spotlight.

Of course, John's story doesn't have a happy ending like the one in Daniel. John is beheaded in prison... he dies in obscurity. He is not saved from his affliction. The story doesn't always end the way we think it should. But His promise goes beyond this life and beyond anything we can imagine.

"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." -Luke 7:23

Opportunities

Sorry it's been quite a while since I've written something. Here are just a few thoughts from today.

I'm taking an evangelism class this semester in seminary at Liberty. While this class does not seem very hard academically, it will definitely be a challenge spiritually and emotionally. We are required to report on several witnessing experienced. I emphasize that the requirement is the report, not the witnessing. It would be ideal if I entered this class as someone who regularly shares his faith, but I cannot say that's true for me. I rarely share with anyone. So I'm trying to see this class as an opportunity. It's going to be tough and it's going to force me to really rely on God for help and strength (which is in itself another opportunity.) Trying my hardest to think of it that way made me think of something else.

How often do we mistake opportunities for hassles or annoyances? I know I do it all the time. I could very easily view this class as a big pain, and whine about all the "assignments" that I have. Or I could take this chance to learn how to tell others about Jesus without fear. This is just one example of the many opportunities that I would rather not miss.