DEVOTION//Nothing to fear

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine…. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze

Isaiah 43:1,2

I wonder if the three men in the fiery furnace thought about this verse when Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into his inferno. You remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? (You'll find the account in Daniel 3.)

Isaiah was inspired to pen this promise in about 700 BC. Those three men lived one hundred years later.

What an apropos promise to cling to when hurled into a blazing furnace for refusing to treat the king as their god and for boldly confessing their faith in the LORD. It's as though this verse was written just for them. But it wasn't.

This promise is ours, too.

When the pressure of living as a Christian in our culture turns up the heat, our God assures, You will not be burned. When the flames of Communist anger threaten Chinese Christians, the Lord says, The flames will not set you ablaze. When the hot barbs of family and friends ridicule you for your grace-founded moral standards, our Father assures his fire extinguisher is at the ready.

But why should we believe his promises?

Because, in Jesus, he has proved I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Since he's kept his ultimate promise in Jesus, he must keep the rest. Listen:

• God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship (Galatians 4:4,5).

• [God] called [summoned] you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

• Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Romans 14:8).

Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the LORD has redeemed us, given us his name through adoption, and claimed us as his own. Jesus' resurrection assures it.

No matter what the temperature, we have nothing to fear.