Every Knee Shall Bow

It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”  Hebrews 14:11 NIV

I am looking for that the day when every knee shall bow. That is not to say that every human being will love the Lord; but, that there will not be one human being who will be able to say that He is not God. Today, many refuse to believe. They will not honor, nor love, nor worship Him. There are also those who say they believe; but, take His great love for us so lightly that one would not be able to tell if they are Christians or not.

I get very weary of witnessing the bowing down of the multitudes to false gods. Fortune, fame, and ego being just three of the countless false gods that are lifted up. I get very weary of the lifting up of the "good works" that people have done. Without the help of the one true God, there are no good works. The glory for a follower of Jesus always belongs to God. We can do nothing. We are nothing without God.

Consider Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusal to bow to the golden idol that Nebuchadnezzar had made. They knew that there is only one true God. They were so loyal to Him that they refused to bow down to this golden calf even as they knew that the penalty for not bowing to this false idol meant death in the fiery furnace. They were not afraid to live or die for the Lord. And, they did not die. The Lord protected them even in the flames of the fiery furnace. They lived as witnesses to the power of the one true God. Only to Him would these three bow.

One day, every knee shall bow. Some will bow out of reverence and love for our awesome God. Others will bow out of sheer fear as they acknowledge Him for the first time. They will bow as they finally acknowledge that He alone is God.

May God open our ears and eyes and hearts and minds so that today we will acknowledge and worship, in reverence and love, the one true God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Fiery Furnace Before False Gods

  

   Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
   Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” (Dan 3:14-18 NRSV)

Two of my favorite readings for Holy Saturday are the stories about the dry bones being raised and the story about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into a furnace because they refused to bow down to the gold idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had made. They chose to be thrown into the fiery furnace before they would bow down to a false god. They survived the fire. In the end, they were commended and promoted by Nebuchadnezzar for being willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. They refused to compromise their faith. They would not bow down to any other god than the one true God.

As pastors and leaders and servants of God's church here on earth, we have to be careful that we do not compromise our faith in God in order to please others. We cannot make for ourselves mini-gods. I call them mini because they are worthless. But, in reality when we choose something other than the truth; when other things become our objects of worship other than the one true God, we are attempting to replace god. We can try all we want. God will always still be God. We cannot change or compromise that truth. Just as He saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace, He is with all who love and worship Him through every fiery time.

It would be a very detrimental choice for us to choose to compromise the truth causing anyone, including ourselves, to bow down to man-made gods in order to try to save themselves.

I did a word search in the NIV, the NKJV, and the NRV. I could not find the word compromise anywhere. It did come up in The Message translation of the Bible in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
    leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
    I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.  

May God grant us the strength and courage to worship no other gods no matter if it is friend or foe who would have us bow down to anyone or anything other than Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J