3 Seconds of Sin or Death?

If you had the choice to sin for 3 seconds or die, what would you choose? In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose death. They would rather DIE than dishonor the Lord. They were given the choice: bow before this image, or get thrown into the fiery furnace. Consider this: Earlier in the book of Daniel in chapter 1, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made another potential life-changing decision - they would not eat the king's meat. Think about it! These men were Chaldean captives. The king had it in his power to get rid of these people with just a word. I can't imagine sitting down to dinner with the president of the United States and then refusing to eat what I was served. But it says that "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself ..." and the others followed suit. By chapter 3, these men had already built a reputation with the king. WHAT IF these 3 men had rationalized the situation among themselves and decided that they would bow down before the image? Quite frankly, I think that's what I would have done; I would have rationalized it in my head - well, how can I win souls to Christ if I'm dead? I might as well bow down to this image because the Lord knows my heart and knows that it doesn't mean anything anyway. It's just a stupid statue. The Lord will understand. But what's the second commandment? If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had bowed down, they would have violated God's law - they would have sinned - even if it is was only for 3 seconds. What's the best way to reach the lost? Some think it's by blending in. Some have "Christian rock" (an oxi-moron) concerts at the church to attract the unsaved. Their thinking is, if we look like them, we won't look so different and intimidating and will be able to reach them. Oh ok ... yeh, well explain that to these 3 men that just got thrown in the fire for obeying God, because I think they forgot. And explain that to Paul & Silas while they're sitting in jail singing praises to God. Evidently, they didn't know they should just blend in. Whoops. And Esther? She definitely messed up big time for her people. She should have just been quiet and blended in so that she didn't have to risk her life when she approached the king. Silly people of the Lord that were DIFFERENT. The World doesn't understand why we want to look like them and act like them if we're claiming to be different. If we're going to make a difference, we have to be a little different. We're to be IN the world but not OF it. We aren't supposed to conform to the world. What if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had conformed ... if they decided the best way to reach the king would be to bow? Would it have worked? I highly doubt it! They had established early on that they were different. They didn't eat the king's meat, although it was probably the best around! And the obeyed God. So if they had bowed down, I think all chances of making a difference would have been thrown out. "Ohhhhhh, so if it's just a matter of what food you'll eat, you'll obey your God, but if your life is threatened you give in? Some followers of your God YOU are!" But when they chose to obey God rather than sin for 3 seconds, they honored God: "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." And look at what the king said after God spared their lives after being thrown in the fire: "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." And then he promoted them. WOW! I didn't see that coming. Maybe God is in control. Maybe He knows better than my human reasoning. I pray that when I'm faced with a decision like that, even if it's seemingly less severe, that I choose to obey God.