Presently reading through the book of Daniel in morning devotions.
Ch 3 today: Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego thrown into the blazing fiery furnace turned up 7X hotter than usual because they refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Come on now, people.This never gets old.

You may know the story. How Nebuchadnezzar jumped to his feet demanding of his advisers, “Didn’t we throw 3 men bound into the fire?” Yes, of course, they replied. King Neb: “Look! I see 4 men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed & the 4th looks like a son of the gods.

This scene has given inestimable hope, endless consolation & sheer exhilaration to people of faith throughout the centuries for, though the One who joins us in the fire may remain unseen, we trust with all our hearts He is no less there. I want to draw your attention to 1 detail:

Daniel 3 tells us Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego were “TIED UP & thrown into the furnace of blazing fire” (v21) and “fell, BOUND, into the furnace.” (v23) King Neb: “Didn’t we throw 3 men, BOUND, into the fire?...Look! I see 4 men, NOT TIED, walking around in the fire unharmed.” ->

Peter reminds us in his 1st letter that we in Christ may also endure fiery trials (Chapters 1&4) but he assures us they are only “for a short time.” And though we know, compared to eternity, the heat is brief indeed, time never passes slower than when we’re standing in a bonfire.

What I want you to see is the obvious, of course. You’ve heard it 100X. We constantly clamor for a new word but it is only the eternal living Word that can speak to the marrow of our bones.

Here’s what I want to say:
You don’t have to wait til you’re out of the fire to be ok.

You can walk around freely while the flames reach and roar because the One who delivers you may not yet have delivered you from the furnace but he has already delivered you from your bonds. Sometimes it’s in the hottest fires of our lives the freedom comes. There you are, untied.

No fire - not even from hell itself - has the power to destroy you if you are in Christ. Though it could end your earthly life or mine, it still has no power to destroy us. We will be delivered from every furnace

UNHARMED.

We will look at one another on the other side & say,

“You don’t even smell like smoke.”