“Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

We are all probably familiar with this amazing story about 3 Jewish boys who were thrown into the fiery furnace by the egotistical King Nebuchadnezzar. It’s one of the classic Sunday school stories listed along side of Noah’s ark, Moses crossing the Red Sea, David and Goliath and Daniel in the lion’s den. It truly is inspiring to see the loyalty that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had to the one, true God.

However, that is not what I got out of this story the last time I read through it. What impressed me most was Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction to what he saw after the boys were thrown into the furnace. It says, “he leapt to his feet in amazement”.

No doubt the king was surprised at the fact that the boys were walking around unharmed. He had heated the fires so stinking hot that the guards who were tasked with binding them and throwing them in were incinerated immediately. I don’t think that was what caused him to react in such a way though.

Honestly, I think that it was more likely that he was looking at the radiant, glorified body of Jesus Christ. I mean, come on! How many of us can say that we have ever gotten to see Jesus in the flesh? As amazing as that would be for us, think how much more amazing it was for the pagan, unbelieving man that Nebuchadnezzar was?

It was truly a moment like no other for him. Could there be anything more amazing than someone seeing the Son of God for who He really is? If you’re a believer, then you’ve gotten a taste of this because we’ve come to know Jesus intimately. We see Him working among us in our churches and in our own lives. We see His presence in every sunrise, sunset and in every flower blooming.

Let me ask you something, though. When is the last time seeing Jesus caused you to leap in amazement? Have you ever leapt to your feet? Maybe during sports when you’re upset over a bad call or when you’re excited about an amazing catch. Maybe your amazement comes from something else entirely, like seeing something you’ve never seen before.

Whatever the case is, there is nothing that should ever cause us to stop leaping in amazement over what Jesus has done, is doing and will continue to do. That very same presence that walked with those three brave boys lives inside of us and walks us through every trial and pain that we will ever experience.

Whatever difficult, scary or hopeless circumstance you find yourself in, walk confidently, knowing that Jesus is right there with you in the fire moving and working with you to bring glory to the Father.

So, the next time you see Jesus at work, go ahead and leap in amazement because you are experiencing the unique privilege of having the Son of God walking in your midst.