May 2010 “For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29
It was always fun warning people they could blow up their house, unless, of course, they bought the nicer range with the
auto-lock for the self-cleaning feature. I spent three years selling appliances for Sears, and it never did get old. The looks on their face, the confusion, the lingering doubt. Of course, I would go on to explain how an oven would get so hot while it was in the self-cleaning mode that, if you opened up the oven door, the oxygen in the very air of the kitchen would provide enough fuel for a fairly decent explosion. Better not leave a chance the toddler would undo the manual lock and accidentally ruin the other stainless steel appliances they would be buying from me… oh, and,
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I suppose they should protect the toddler, too. Fire is fairly simple to understand. Substances begin chemically combining, feeding off of oxygen and each other to fuel the transformation. The faster the transformation, the more heat and light that is given off. Typically, the end result is a charred mess, and maybe some nice, toasty marshmallows. Romans 12:1 urges all of us to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Paul knew it was *only reasonable!* that we should provide our lives as a sacrifice, considering all that Jesus Christ has done for us. This scripture wasn’t just written as an afterthought or a good idea, but as part of an unavoidable truth: without that sacrifice, and diligent work to keep that sacrifice pleasing, there would be no fire in our lives. Imagine if you soaked your logs before you tried to burn them. Or, rather than use wood, you tried to throw concrete blocks in the fire
pit. Or… now this one is a stretch… what if you kept lighting matches and throwing them into an empty fire pit, expecting something to start? Our God, just like a natural fire, consumes, combines, and transforms us when we come into contact with Him. We fireproof our lives when we don’t offer Him any of our time, or when we soak our spirits down with sin, or offer him whatever happens to be lying around extra in our lives that’s convenient. It’s almost like some Christians have an auto-lock mechanism that will allow God to burn clean our grimy guilt when we visit church weekly, but we keep that fire contained and from messing with the stuff in the kitchen that caused the mess to begin with ! I want to crank up the heat, throw wide the door, and offer God EVERYTHING I am. Sure, some thing He’ll burn out might hurt for awhile, but it’s only reasonable to yield everything for Him when He gave His everything for my salvation. One small thing way we’re going to proffer more fuel to the Lord this month is through a “Fuel 4 God Media Fast,” beginning May 20th and ending May 31st. Take the time you would normally spend online, in front of the television, or otherwise expending your mental energies on secular entertainment activities and turn it over to the Christ whose Word encourages us to think on better things. Spend extra time in prayer, in the Word, or *gasp* in real fellowship with people. Everyone is encouraged to participate, as I’m sure anyone who makes this reasonable sacrifice unto the Lord will be blessed accordingly and bountifully! Meanwhile, don’t pinch your pennies when purchasing: get the auto-locking self-cleaning range. T.J. Heidenreich, Student Pastor