Stand Up

I hear people all over Christendom saying, “Stand-up for your Christian rights!”

I’m not too sure what they mean by that, but I am sure about my next question, “Where do we read that in Scripture?”

This article and video from Fox is just another step down a long road that I believe we are well into, namely, the marginalizing of Christians and our beliefs accompanied by limiting our actions that we feel God wants us to do.

Threatened

When I’m in a church I talk about the Deacons standing behind their pastor if they are ever threatened with not teaching certain Scriptural doctrines, with the result being they would face losing one’s favorable tax status.

But this story brings the issue to each of us. Here’s the issue; What will you do when faced with, “pray publicly and go to jail.” Or, “don’t pray and stay out of jail.”

Daniel in the Lion’s Den

Let’s look at just a few passages in the famous Bible passage in Daniel 6.

King Darius’ law was so strong, called the “law of the Medes and Persians,” that it could not be changed (Daniel 6:15b).

You know the story,

  • Daniel is thrown into the lions den
  • Darius feels so bad for Daniel that he fasts all night
  • He gets up early and finds that Daniel’s God has saved him.

And Then The Problem

This is the part of the story that many of us remember:

The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den — they, their children, and their wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. Daniel 6:24

And I suggest that we need to change our focus because too many of us think that this is where the story ends.

The Rest Of The Story

My friends, we are so wrapped up in making sure that those opposing us “get-their-due” that we forget the most important part of this story, and that is what King Darius realizes of Daniel’s God.

I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel:
For He is the living God,
and He endures forever;
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and His dominion has no end.
He rescues and delivers;
He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:26-27

Now here’s my question, did King Darius notice this because Daniel was belligerently standing up for his rights? I don’t think so.

To see the Fox article and video CLICK HERE or go here:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5551053570001/?#sp=show-clips