Good Morning Brown Clee!  I hope you’ve had a good weekend and are refreshed and ready for another busy week of learning!

Last week we started to think about choices – and how we are responsible for every single choice we make – whether it is a new year’s resolution or something as simple as which socks to put on today.  We also learnt a strategy for helping us to make the right choice – the one with the traffic lights – where we stop and pause before responding or acting.

Today  would like to continue with this theme – as making the right choice isn’t always easy.  I would like you to watch this video retelling the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the Fiery Furnace from the Book of Daniel in The Old Testament – have a watch and think about what choices these 3 friends made, and why they made it…

….have a think now about the decision that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego made – it wasn’t an easy one and was very brave – why did they choose not to worship King Nebuchadnezzar?

Do you think they were brave and was there anything that helped them to be courageous?  Do you think they would have made the same decision if they were on their own? What might have helped them to make their choice?  Was it the right choice and why?

I think that because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all trusted God, they followed the words of our school’s Bible verse from Matthew “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind” and made the right choice not to worship anyone other than their true God – even though they knew they risked being thrown into a blazing fire – and as a result God saved them.  Their trust in God and their strong faith and friendship helped them to stay true and make the right choice.

As a result, they survived, and more importantly their faith and trust had a powerful impact on King Nebuchadnezzar who exclaimed “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the one true God. These men trusted him and refused to obey my commands and he did not forget them. I now forbid anyone to say anything bad about their God and I am also going to promote these men.’

Let’s take a moment to reflect and think about what we can learn from this story today?  …..

One thing we might learn is that having friends we can trust, who will stand with us in difficult situations, is really important. It’s like the saying goes: ‘If you want a good friend, be a good friend.’

Christians believe that they can trust in God. They believe that he will never let them down or leave them.

Who do we trust today?

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord,
Thank you that we can trust you, whatever situation we find ourselves in.
Please help us to be people whom others can trust.
Please give us people whom we can trust.
Please help us to be good friends to those around us.
Please also help us to forgive when needed.
Amen.