Daniel 3:19. "Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated." This comes after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Jews who had won King Nebuchadnezzar's favor, refused to worship the golden idol Nebuchadnezzar had created and ordered his kingdom to worship. Nebuchadnezzar is so angry with these men that he orders them thrown into the fiery furnace (which they survive, to Nebuchadnezzar's astonishment, and he praises God for saving them (Daniel 3:28)).

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon who brought the Jews into exile after conquering Judah. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found favor with Nebuchadnezzar and were raised up as trusted servants. In reading Daniel, there are several times that Nebuchadnezzar comes to recognize the Jewish God, as he does after the fiery furnace episode, but then he falls back into his pagan ways. When Daniel interpreted a dream for Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed "Truly your God is God of gods and Lord of kings." (Daniel 2:47) But in the very next chapter, Nebuchadnezzar is setting up the false idol of gold and ordering his kingdom to worship it, so clearly his proclamation of God as God did not stick (that time, at least).

In today's verse it is noted that the expression on Nebuchadnezzar's face was changed when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego politely refused to worship the idol ("[B]e it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up." (Daniel 3:18)). This change of expression and the fury which arose in Nebuchadnezzar are, I have learned, good indications of idolatry. I have seen this myself sometimes when I politely refuse to agree with someone, or express an opinion which they find offensive - their faces literally change, twisted in anger, and they lash out with an unreasonable fury. It is shocking and a bit scary, but very revealing. That is how I know that whatever it is we are discussing has become an idol to them. Our modern idols are not statues of gold, they are much more subtle, but they are very powerful, and they are everywhere!

Seeing this behavior in other people has made me try to be more aware of it in myself. When I feel an unreasonable anger rising in me, I ask myself why? What am I attached to that makes me want to defend it in such fury? Even God doesn't want me to defend Him in fury, so whatever this thing is that is making me want to lash out is an idol to me, an unhealthy attachment that I need to work on separating myself from.

Our "idol making hearts" latch on to many things, even very good things, and form attachments that can lead us astray. We have to allow ourselves to become aware of them by being honest with ourselves. Once aware, turn to God. If the attachment is to a bad thing, prayer and our cooperation with God's grace will help us root it out of our lives and turn away from it completely. If is a good thing, but something we are placing before God in importance, prayer and God's grace will help us get it back into the right order in our lives.

Our God is the God of gods, He does not suffer rivals for our love. If we ask Him, He will eagerly help us remove our idols and rightly order our lives so we can love Him as we should.