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January 14 Daily Devotional

The Very Hairs Are All Numbered

the Rev. Henry Huenemann

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30).

Bible Reading

Daniel 3:19-30:

19Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

Devotional

Why does God tell us that the hairs of our head are all numbered? Did you ever count your hairs? Does it really matter whether you have a few more hairs, or a few less? Yet, Christ tells us, there shall not a hair of your head perish, though we be hated of all men for his name's sake. To such an extent God's special providence reaches out over his children. It reaches into the minutest details of their lives; yea, it extends even to irrational creatures like the insignificant sparrows. Not one of them is forgotten before God; not one of them falls on the ground without our Father in heaven. And we are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore we should not fear. God is willing and able to protect and to deliver us. When Saul was determined to kill Jonathan, the people said, "There shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. God delivered the three friends of Daniel out of the fiery furnace. There was "not an hair of their head singed." Paul told his fellow passengers in that storm on the sea, "There shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you." "And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land." Why is all this thus recorded? That we should not fear men; but trust in God, and boldly confess our Saviour.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, help us to realize that all creatures are so in Thine hand, that without Thy will they cannot so much as move. Help us also to realize with what great love Thou lovest us. May we be therefore fully assured that Thou art both willing and able to protect us against all enemies, and also art able to deliver us out of all distresses. Free us from all fear, anxiety, and worry. May we put our whole trust in Thee, and always boldly bear witness to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Amen.


Scripture in Devotional: Luke 21:17, 18; 12:6; Matt. 10:29, 31; 1 Sam. 14:45; Dan. 3:27; Acts 27:34, 44.

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