God has given us the power to choose between the values of the passing moment and those values that are eternal. The young Hebrews in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar had to make such a choice. They could save their lives by renouncing God, but their declaration was that they would not purchase life at such a price: "God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden images which thou hast set up."

In great or lesser measures we all face similar choices, not once but over and over. To sacrifice spiritual values and to deaden the conscience by refusing to listen to its voice in order that we may enjoy the pleasures or the profits of the moment, is to sacrifice abiding values for those that are perishable and therefore temporary. To make such a bargain is always to lose.

—Selected