Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Daniel 3:7
A fourth grader recently asked me what my favorite story from the Bible was, followed by: “And you can’t say a Jesus story. That’s too easy.” (Ah, the honesty of children.)
I chose the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I have always loved that story for the complete trust in God it teaches. Those men declared to praise and worship God, independent of if He answered their plea or not. That is true worship! To worship even if the outcome is not what you would have chosen.
But I must confess, I’ve always focused on the declaration they made to the king:
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
However, recently it was a different verse that caught my attention (causing heart piercing pain at the same time.)
Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Daniel 3:7
At first glance I was smug: Like I would ever fall in worship at the sound of instruments telling me to worship a statue.
Ding.
Ooh, an email! (Automatically grab phone, bow head towards screen)
Ouch!!!! That one hurt.
I don’t bow to the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe. Nope, I bow to the sound of a ding, a tweet, chimes, a swoosh, a ringtone.
How did this happen? When did it happen? My phone sounds and without thinking I respond. It’s bad enough that I will check mail while talking with a family member or friend. But I find myself even putting God “on hold” so I can swipe my screen.
Nothing like being in the middle of quiet time with the Creator of the universe and telling Him to hold on a second while you respond to an email. I mean after all it’s not like those cookies the room-mom requested are going to take themselves to the class party. Yep, that’s way more important than talking to the very One who gave me life!
I have been so convicted by my automatic response to the sounds my phone makes.
So what are we to do in this technology permeating world? Throw our phones away? Never respond to another email?
Of course not. But we can follow Daniel and his buddies’ example by deciding in our hearts that we will not put our devices above our Lord (OK, so maybe that’s not exactly what they decided, but you know what I mean). Daniel and his friends made a conscience decision, maybe even a pact with each other, to remain pure before God in a land overflowing with temptation.
What if we decided to do something similar?
What if we decided in our hearts to put limits on our devices?
What if we put our phones in another room during our quiet time?
This one might not apply to you, but it certainly does for me: What if we stop treating each email as if it is a potential defcon 1 warning that we must check lest national disaster ensue.
I do not want to choose my phone over my God. I do not want to be ruled by dings and tweets. Instead, I want the peace of the Holy Spirit to rule my thoughts and actions.
This verse hurt, but I’m so glad it did. I’ve always judged those Babylonians harshly. It was pretty hard to realize that I am just as guilty. And whereas they bowed down before a huge idol, I carry mine in my pocket! (Ouch…that one hurts too!)
Thankfully, God is full of grace and mercy. He wants us to turn to Him in our weakness and failures. He can redeem and restore that which we have used unwisely.
I am so thankful for the heart piercing truth of God’s word. And for the silent mode on my phone!
With love,
Jen
