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CONTEXT: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face a spiritual challenge without Daniel.

Until now, our focus has centered on Daniel's faith and relationship with King Nebuchadnezzar. This week, we look deeper at his three friends - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

We’ve learned that these three were incredible friends to Daniel, joining him in prayer and supporting him as he stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar. We also know the king has promoted them to important positions within the empire. Now, they face their own life-and-death encounter with the king without Daniel’s help. The Bible doesn’t say where he is during the course of events. All we know is that he was not involved or mentioned.

They had to decide for themselves if they would remain faithful to their own commitment to God or bow down to the king. They couldn’t rely on Daniel’s faith to sustain them. They couldn’t depend on his courage to make them brave enough to face the king. They couldn’t count on him to be their spokesman. They had to decide whom they would serve.

The same is true for each of us. Yes, it’s important for us to have a healthy, Godly community to encourage and support one another. But we can’t substitute someone else’s faith for our own. Each of us will encounter a situation that requires us to make our faith our own. To decide if we’re willing to stand up for God even when others around us choose not to. We can’t rely solely on the faith of a parent, grandparent, mentor, pastor, or friend to be our foundation. If it is, then we have to ask ourselves where our faith is really grounded - in God or someone else.

CONSIDER THIS:

1. Think over your own walk with God. Have you had a time when you had to make your faith your own? What did you choose? Why did you make that choice?

2. It’s important to have spiritual leaders in your life, but we must be careful not to substitute their faith for our own. Consider your mentors. Are you ever tempted to rely on their faith instead of making your own decision to follow God completely?

3. Write a prayer asking God to give you courage as you learn to take ownership of your relationship with Jesus.