I don’t even smell like smoke!

Scripture: 

24: Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25: He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

Daniel 3:24-25

Devotional:

When I think of fire I think that it is the most unforgiving and destructive force there is. Fire destroys completely. That is what was intended for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You see in Daniel 3, the king made a golden idol that was to be worshipped as a god by all the people of his kingdom. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew better than to disrespect the only and true God, so they protested and would not bow down. This enraged the king, and he gave the ultimatum: bow or die. 

The Hebrews still refused. The kings then had the furnace heated to 70 times its normal. It was so hot that the men who bound and threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire died themselves. But as we can see from the verses above, God delivered them and came to their rescue. He protected them and walked them right out of that inferno. But fire isn’t always for destruction. Fire can be used to purify. In Roman times, that was how they showed the purity of gold. They would stick it in the fire, and if nothing burned on it, they knew the gold was pure. At times we may feel like we are walking through a blazing inferno. It's hot; we feel like it is just going to burn us up and completely destroy us. The promise that Jesus provided us by dying on the cross is that he is always going to walk with us. The debt has been paid. Sometimes, to be the purest and most refined we can be, we need to walk right through that fire. Jesus is going to be right there walking with us. 

There is a great worship song by Red Worship that is called Testify (smell like smoke). The bridge of that song says, “I went through the fire; I didn't think I would make it out, though. Could have sworn I was finished; I’d abandoned all hope. Jesus stepped in the furnace; the flames let me go, and I don’t even smell like smoke.” I think that is a beautiful way to wrap this all up. We can only see the fire right now, but Jesus is going to come stand next to us and pull us along to the other side. The best part of this is that we will come out of it and not be singed or harmed, and we will not smell like smoke.

Prayer: 

Lord thank you for giving us the promise of always walking through the fire with us. We may not be able to understand why we are walking through it or where it is leading, but it is of great comfort to know you are right beside us. Lord, we ask you to continue to purify us and make us into the people you want us to be. We pray this in your Son Jesus’ name. AMEN