First, Seek God

Daniel 3:19-23 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
 
IN a moment his attitude toward them changed. The king’s favor for Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah became a murderous rage. With disregard for any just law or civil order Nebuchadnezzar moved to please his sin-blackened heart, to kill God’s faithful.
    Murder is mankind’s great sin against one another. The first recorded sin of man sinning against man is Cain killing his brother Abel in Genesis 4. Seven generations after Cain came the proud boast of Cain’s descendant Lamech in Genesis 4:23 “I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” This is a picture of a prosperous culture defying the image of God. Pleasure and self-indulgence were mankind’s greatest priorities with Cain, Lamech and Nebuchadnezzar. This is still sin’s heart attack on mankind today.
    Murder was also one compelling reason for God to purge the world with the Great Flood. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth (Genesis 6:6). In response, after the flood God established capital punishment to protect us from each other. Genesis 9: 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”
    Murder is more than killing another, it is destroying God’s creation especially made in God’s image. We must know we are precious to God. He made us to bear his image to one another. We are to love God and love each other, so God will be praised and exalted. Love brings us to peace with each other, united to love and worship God. After all, this is the purpose for which God has created us.
    Our task, then, is to obey Jesus’ life command from Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Seeking his own kingdom of power and self-worship led to Nebuchadnezzar’s hateful rage. Seeking God’s kingdom will lead us to join with God and with mankind in humility, love and honor.
 
Isaiah 30:18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!