Imagine a campfire—you stack a few logs, light it up, and then feed it wood for hours. As soon as you stop feeding it, it begins to shrink down to nothing. It may rage right now, but will be ashes in an hour, right?
But imagine the same campfire with an 18-wheeler truck tire on top. Once the tire is engulfed, you are looking at a CONSUMING FIRE—you can stop feeding it! When the Brazos overflowed its banks, farmers in Waller County lost hundreds of cattle. What to do about the devastation and the stench? Truck tires—place one tire under each carcass. A single tire from an 18-wheeler burns hot enough and long enough to take the flesh off a half-ton animal. Now THAT is a consuming fire.
God calls Himself a CONSUMING FIRE. He swallows up His enemies. But if you are righteous, you have nothing to fear from the fires of His holiness.
“Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames? The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes to avoid evil. He will dwell on the heights… his food provided, his water assured. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. You will see a vast land. You will no longer fear the barbarians… Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture… for the Majestic One, our Lord, will be there, a place of rivers and broad streams…. He will save us” Isaiah 33:14-22.
Moses said “Our God is a consuming fire,” and the author of Hebrews repeated it, encouraging us toward proper worship: “Let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God with reverence and awe, ‘for our God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:29.
God teach us to love You—AND—to fear You. Burn from us the things that do not please you.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 