Sometimes the price of worship is simply faithfulness. In Daniel 3, the ultimate test of faithfulness was brought to bear in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were told they must stop worshipping the Lord, and that they must worship a golden image set up by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.

To signify the importance of when the people where to worship the golden image, the king had the following done:

Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
Daniel 3:4-6

It is interesting to note that the decree was given in many languages and nations, but that the one common factor to drawing all of them to a call of worship (across cultures and dialects) was the playing of music. Though music isn't inherently worship (or vise-versa), music has always been connected, both in meaning and practice, to worship. When you hear the music play, do you fall down and worship? As we celebrate in our corporate gatherings (in churches around the world), let us remember to be faithful to worship the from the first sound of the music!

The above scripture is Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.

The Daily Worship Thought was written and Copyright © 1998 by Kim Anthony Gentes. Used by permission.