Facing the Furnace

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago in response to King Nebuchadnezzer's command that they bow to his idol or be thrown into the furnace:

"There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up" (Dn. 3:16-18).

"even if he will not..." I imagine I must have thought of or heard someone speaking on this before, but today it pierced my heart. S., M., and A. did not acquire the courage to defy the king's order, risking public defamation and painful death because they had faith that God would save them, delivering their bodies and validating their cause. No, they resisted because their devotion was so great that they believed it was more important to love God than their own lives. Their's was a love that demanded to be made manifest not only in thoughts and feelings but in words and deed and they were determined to obey under any circumstances. Here is the profound mystery to me: their love acted out faithfully on the basis of hope; it did not react pragmatically in light of a particular situation. What kind of love is this? What will it require of us? I am afraid of this love, yet I long for it.