Real faith in God takes courage

In the book of Daniel (Old Testament) we can read a lot about the real and genuine faith of Daniel and his friends. Their devotion to Creator God, God of Israel, God of the Bible and courage to stand firm for their faith in Jehovah are just remarkable.

In Daniel chapter 3 the pagan King Nebuchadnezzar made an image/idol of gold and ordered all citizens of his vast empire to come and worship that immense idol statue (Daniel 3:3-4). The punishment for refusal to bow down before the golden idol was severe to say at least.

Daniel 3:6, “But whoever does not fall down, and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire”. Guess, what happened in the following verse 7. Almost every one worshipped the idol statue under the pressure from the King and his satraps.

In Daniel 3:10 we read that it was a degree from the Babylonian government to bow down and worship the golden image. The Kings’ officials reported the monarch that a tiny group of Jews refused to worship the idol. They disregarded the government decree.