Meditations from Zion

Luke 12:49
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!…”

It takes energy to start a fire. That is, unless you have another fire to pass along.

But if you’re starting from scratch: you have to have a few essentials like kindling or some other fire-friendly fuel, a spark (from expended energy), and oxygen to keep it going. Those who saw the movie, Castaway, will remember how important and difficult it was for the hero to start a fire. He knew the basics in how to do it, but implementing his knowledge was harder than he had imagined.

The easiest method, of course, is to have a small fire already going and you simply touch that fire to the new “environment” until it catches. Jesus tells us that He is this starter fire. We just need to prepare the kindling and provide the oxygen. Unfortunately, most of us want to control the flame. Burn here, Lord, but not there. And please, don’t burn up all my “stuff.” And, oh, please don’t let the fire hurt me. In fact, why don’t we just set aside a special area for your fire, Jesus? In that way, you can just burn and burn and it won’t hurt anything or anybody. It will be orderly and controlled. It will be on my terms.

One of my favorite worship songs is “Refiner’s Fire,” because I know the fire is essential to my faith and growth, like a forest that must occasionally experience a burn for new life to spring up. But I fear the fire at the same time. I fear that all my personal wants and desires being consumed by His Fire. I fear the loss of control. I fear that His refining fire will not leave all that is pure and holy and strong, but instead, only ashes will remain.

O Lord, have mercy on me. Forgive my fears. Start the real fire… not the fireplace version.