Last Sunday, the message was from Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were commanded to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a youth once, which asked, “what if I were to bow down, but didn’t really mean it?” It dilutes our worship of God. Our worship becomes tainted and twisted. In the end, it ceases to be real worship. The men in Daniel 3 had a conviction that they wouldn’t dilute their worship of God for the comfort, convenience, or security of worshiping an idol.
What is undiluted worship that is displayed in Daniel 3?
1. Undiluted worship is focused on the provider, not the provision.
Nebuchadnezzar had a God-given dream of a statue, with a God-given message attached to it. Now he was making everyone worship his statue. He was worshiping the object of the dream instead of the dream-giver. We do that sometimes. We receive blessings (spouses, kids, a house, a career… ok, a motorcycle) and we begin orienting our lives around the blessing instead of the God who gave them to us.
2. Undiluted worship is for the Unseen God.
Frankly, it’s easier to worship a statue. It’s tangible. Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t understand faith in an unseen God. But the truth of Scripture is our God is too big, too pure, too magnificent to be seen by our little eyes. I think if we saw God our brains would explode! We can find great faith and satisfaction in an unseen God who is too big for us to comprehend.
3. Undiluted worship is unconditional.
The temptation is to reserve our worship of God for when things are going our way. These guys said, “God can save us, but even if he doesn’t, we won’t worship your little-statue-god (my paraphrase).” Our worship must never depend on what God decides to do for us, but rather because He is worthy of all glory!
4. Undiluted worship draws others to the One, true God.
In the end, Nebuchadnezzar was drawn closer to worshiping God himself, because these men were distinct and different in their worship. When our worship looks like what the world has, we have nothing special to offer. They have better music, better entertainment, better motivational speeches. But we have the power of experiencing the presence of God. In worship, true undiluted worship, they begin to comprehend His uniqueness.
How do you worship Him best? What keeps you from worship? Any hints or suggestions on how I might keep my worship “undiluted?”