Unbound Praise

I love the story of the three children of Judah: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (AKA Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego). Most saints know it, but for those of you who may not, it is an incredible story of faith.

Three young men defied the order of a powerful king, because the order went against the Lord God. However, the king did not care about their deity, nor any other reason for not following his command. Because the king favored them, he gave them another chance to obey the order. The young men defied the order once again, in front of the king himself and in front of all the princes and nobles gathered. Ignited with fury, the king demanded that the young men be bound and immediately thrown into a fiery furnace. The blaze of the fire was so hot, that it burned alive the guards who threw them into the furnace. As the king watched the fire rage, he noticed that there were four people walking in the midst of the fiery furnace, and the fourth man looked like the “Son of God“.

The king, the princes, and the nobles were in awe. It was as if the fire had not touched the three young men at all. Then the king blessed the Lord God and decreed that no man should speak any ill against God, who delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

At the beginning of this story, we were introduced to three men named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Their names were changed by the foreign king whom they served. I often heard that the names given by the king were their slave names, and there were some people who refused to use the name which signified their oppression. But, it was in that oppression that those names became famous. While the names of the children of Judah, were often forgotten, the names of the servants of the Most High God were remembered. The young men lived to honor God. Therefore, their identity was not as important as the fame and glory of God.

I submit a challenge: