Tested And True

Read: Daniel 3:8-18

Let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. --- Daniel 3:18

The Bible In One Year:
Daniel 1-3

A young nurse was assisting a surgeon for the first time. As he was completing the operation, she told him he had used 12 sponges, but she could account for only 11. The doctor curtly replied that he had removed them all from inside the patient. The nurse insisted that one was missing, but the doctor declared he would proceed with sewing up the incision.

The nurse, her eyes blazing, said, "You can't do that! Think of the patient!" The doctor smiled and, lifting his foot, showed the nurse the twelfth sponge, which he had deliberately dropped on the floor. "You'll do fine!" he said. He had been testing her.

Daniel's three friends faced a different kind of test [Daniel 3], but they too would not budge. They knew their refusal to worship the image might result in their death, yet they never wavered. They proved they were true to God by standing firm.

The Lord still permits trials and temptations to enter the lives of His children. The challenge may come as an opportunity to gratify the lusts of the flesh, or as a series of disheartening circumstances. Whatever form it takes, we must not yield. Rather, we must stand for what is right and trust God to supply the grace we need [1 Corinthians 10:13].

Are you "tested and true"? --- Herb Vander Lugt

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin ---
Each victory will help you some other to win;
Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue,
Look ever to Jesus, He will carry you through. --- Palmer

A GEM CANNOT BE POLISHED WITHOUT FRICTION, NOR CAN WE BE PERFECTED WITHOUT TRIAL.