Good Morning Friends,
“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold,
ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the
province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors,
advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial
officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps,
prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the
other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King
Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it. Then the herald loudly
proclaimed, ‘This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men
of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,
lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the
image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.’” (Daniel 3:1-5)
There is no limit to the pride and audacity
of some men. Nebuchadnezzar demanded allegiance to him and his edicts -- and that’s
appropriate for a ruler. But he went beyond that -- to the point of deciding
what and how his people were to worship. He’s not the first king to walk down
that road, and not the last, either.
But there is a limit to the obedience that a
citizen owes his ruler and government. There are allegiances higher than a
person’s allegiance to earthly authority. Nebuchadnezzar crossed the line -- he
passed the limit. He demanded that his people do something that he had no right
to demand.
The Jewish rulers in the days of the early
church reached that same point. They demanded obedience from the early
Christians in ways that they had no right to demand. They demanded that the
early Christians keep quiet about Jesus. In that demand, they had crossed the
line. Peter and the other apostles answered that demand saying, “We must obey
God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)
For most of us, the demands of our government
do not violate our conscience. We may not like every law our government passes,
but most do not require us to disobey God in order to obey them. Someday that
may not be true – so remember, there is an allegiance higher than any allegiance
to earthly authority. When there is a choice to be made, we must obey God
rather than men.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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