God's Complete Work

This morning as I read, I was astonished at the completeness of God's work among His people, those who have devoted their lives to completely following Him. In the accounts in Daniel of he and his friends following God regardless of the laws against it, God's deliverance is complete as He bolsters them to obedience.

The first account is of Daniel's friends refusing to bow to an image the king has displayed. The punishment for this refusal was to be thrown in the furnace, and the king was so wroth that he had it heated greatly more than normal for these three to be thrown in. There is a wonderful image of the presence of God with us as we endure trials, but what I am focusing on this mornings is the complete deliverance from the fiery furnace. When these men came out of the furnace, which was heated more than usual, they were untouched by the flames. Their clothes were unburned, the hair of their bodies not even singed, and most of all, they did not even smell of smoke. Any of us know that if we are around smoke or fire, we at least have the smell of smoke on us. The flames were hot enough to kill those who lead the Hebrews to the furnace, and yet there was not even the smell of smoke on them! God is complete in His work.

Then, there's Daniel's passion for prayer. He prayed several times each day, and this not just as needed, though we always need God. This was a daily ritual, a deep communion with God that could not even be altered by new laws. The king, though tricked to do so, signed a new decree that no one should petition anyone or anything other than the king for one month. Daniel was caught! The punishment? To be thrown in the lions' den. When the king went out the next morning, after a sleepless night and no food, he cried out to Daniel to see if he was alive. Indeed, the mouths of the lions had been shut. Now, one might be thinking "sure, they were just not hungry" but that was not the case. After Daniel was lead out, the king ordered those who had devised this trick to destroy Daniel be thrown in the lions' den, along with their whole families. They did not even make it to the ground before the lions had devoured them! God did not allow Daniel to be harmed at all!

So, what does all this mean for you and me? Well, first of all, we can trust that God is faithful to complete the work He has already started in each of us. Second, that God's reward for saying yes to Him is much more abundant than any consequence we receive from saying no to the things of this world. Thirdly, and what seems most important in my life right now, if we are to say we will follow Him fully, we must desire to do all this entails to the best of our ability. If God can work on our behalf with completeness, we ought also to do the same. If there is anything we are doing for the LORD, which should be applied to every area of our lives if He is indeed LORD, we ought to make sure that those around us see the hand of God in it, and therefore it will be complete.